Lee Scales attempted to murder man by running him over and dragging him by car in Edinburgh

A man tried to murder a pedestrian by driving over him and allowing his vehicle to drag him around a car park, a court has heard.

Lee Scales, 28, drove a red Ford Fiesta at Spencer Brodie outside the Westside Plaza Shopping Centre in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, on April 14, 2022.

Judge Lord Sandison saw CCTV footage of Mr Brodie being forced onto the bonnet of the motor as Scales continued to drive.

The video showed Mr Brodie trying to cling on moments after Scales struck him at an estimated speed of 13 miles per hour.

Lord Sandison saw Mr Brodie fall off the bonnet and saw the moment the Fiesta’s front wheels drive over the victim’s body.

The video then showed the car’s rear wheels drive over Mr Brodie’s body as he lay on the ground in agony.

Prosecution lawyer Margaret Barron told the court: “The accused accelerated towards the complainer at speed, hitting the complainer and causing him to fall onto the bonnet of the car.

“The accused continued driving as the complainer fell off the bonnet and onto the ground.

“The accused continued driving, running over the complainer and dragging him along the ground before driving away from the locus.”

Ms Barron then told the court that Mr Brodie was rushed to Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary Hospital and was treated for a brain injury, collapsed lungs, fractured ribs, and a spinal injury.

The prosecutor told the court that medics were able to treat Mr Brodie but added: “The injuries sustained by the complainer were potentially life threatening.

He will be left the permanent scarring at the site of his surgical wounds and will have permanently reduced mobility.”

The story emerged after Scales, a prisoner of HMP Edinburgh, pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted murder.

He admitted to driving at excessive speed at Mr Brodie, causing him to collide with the car and driving over the top of him.

Scales admitted to causing Mr Brodie “permanent disfigurement”, “permanent impairment” and endangering his life.

Ms Barron told the court that Mr Brodie and his friend, Colin Curle, became involved in argument with the accused – who works as a joiner – moments before the collision.

Police became aware of the incident and started investigating – officers searched for Scales in Edinburgh but couldn’t find him in the Scottish capital.

Ms Barron told the court that detectives became aware on April 16 that Scales was in Newcastle.

Colleagues in Tyneside traced the accused and arrested him before Scottish officers took him back to be charged.

On Tuesday, Scales’s solicitor advocate Iain McSporran QC told the court that Scales had acted in a “moment of madness” and that it had arisen from a “trivial matter”.

Mr McSporran said that it was his client’s “position” that Mr Brodie and his friend had invited Mr Scales to go an area of the car park which had no CCTV coverage.

This was so they could “sort out” their disagreement. The lawyer added: “It arose out of the most trivial nonsense.

“They had invited the accused to go to an area of the car park where there was no CCTV footage so they could go and sort it out.

“They then said that they knew the accused’s father who worked in the shopping centre and that they would get him.

“It was at that point Lee Scales says the redness descended and he drove towards them.

“He is aware that only a substantial custodial sentence can follow from this act of madness.”

Lord Sandison deferred sentence for the court to obtain a report on Scales’ background.

He said: “It is in your interests that you fully co-operate with the social work department in the preparation of the report so I can have as full a picture of you as I can before I proceed to sentence.”

Scales was remanded in custody and will be sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on September 21.