Scotland's first female chief constable accused of causing crash

The chief constable of Fife Constabulary has been accused of causing a head on car crash that left a driver injured.

Norma Graham, Scotland's first ever female chief constable, did not appear when her case called at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on Tuesday.

Defence solicitor Colin Simpson appeared on her behalf and asked for the case to be continued without plea for three weeks, which was allowed by Sheriff Maxwell Hendry.

The charge against her alleges that on February 7 this year on the B922 Cluny to Kinglassie Road she drove her Audi without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road.

It is alleged that she failed to keep the vehicle under proper control and caused it to collide with a Renault Clio driven by Hannah Shedden. Prosecutors say that as a result both vehicles were damaged and both Graham and Ms Shedden were injured.

Graham, 49, of Dalkeith, is due to appear at court again on July 10.

It is thought this is the first time in Scottish legal history that a chief constable has been cited to appear in court as an accused person.

A spokesman for Fife Constabulary declined to comment on the case.

Graham joined Lothian and Borders Police as a cadet in 1978 aged 16. She started her career proper two years later as a bobby on the beat in her home town of Musselburgh.

She later rose to the rank of detective chief superintendent in charge of criminal investigation. During the early part of her career she undertook a number of uniformed and specialist roles including head of the force's drug squad.

Graham was appointed assistant chief constable in Central Scotland Police in 2002 and in 2005 she was strategic gold commander for the G8 summit held at Gleneagles, Perthshire.

She later moved to Fife as deputy chief constable and was awarded the Queen's Police Medal for Services to Policing in 2008.

In July that year she was promoted to chief constable. The next year, she was made vice-president of the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland, a position she held until 2011.

In April she unexpectedly announced that she was to retire in August. Announcing her decision, she said: "It has been an absolute honour to serve the communities of Fife as chief constable for the last four years and a privilege to lead the dedicated and hardworking officers and police staff of Fife Constabulary who over the last seven years have been instrumental in almost halving crime in the Kingdom."

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