Woman who allowed child, 9, to drive car handed unpaid work
Sophie-Leigh Gemmell was sentenced today at Peterhead Sheriff Court, where she had earlier lodged a guilty plea to culpable and reckless conduct.
The 32-year-old's conviction came after she shared a video of the incident online and it went viral.
The clip showed Gemmell cheering on the child driver as she manoeuvred through Crimond on July 10 last year – the night of a yellow weather warning.
Sheriff Alan Sinclair has now reprimanded Gemmell and told her it was only through fortunate good luck that her actions did not put her – and the child she allowed behind the wheel – in a worse situation.
Gemmell's video, shared on Snapchat, showed the bare-footed child using the vehicle's indicators and driving through village streets in rainy nighttime conditions.
Gemmell, of The Corse in Crimond, can be heard cheering in the clip and offering driving advice to the youngster as music from the Sugababes blares on the stereo.
Iain Jane, her defence solicitor, told the court his client acknowledged her actions were dangerous.
He said: 'Ms Gemmell wants to make it clear to the court, she understands that this behaviour was completely foolish.
'This particular endeavour, effectively, [was] based on really poor decision-making by her at the material time.
'At the time, Ms Gemmell was going through very difficult family circumstances.
'[The video] was only sent to what was considered trusted family and friends, but that turned out not to be the case. It spread quite far and quite wide.'
Sheriff Sinclair branded Gemmell's actions 'reckless in the extreme' and handed her a punishment of 134 hours of unpaid work in the community.
'You allowed a nine-year-old girl to control a piece of machinery that has the potential to cause very serious harm, not just to the occupants, to the wider public.
'I must also take into account the poor weather conditions in which you allowed a young girl to drive. You and the driver were very fortunate not to have suffered more serious, immediate consequences.
'The decision to film the incident and share it seems to defy any reasonable explanation.'
The sheriff added, however, that jailing Gemmell for her behaviour would have a 'disproportionate' effect on her own children.
Instead, as an alternative to custody, she will complete her unpaid work within the next 12 months.
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