Drunk teen caused aspiring footballer to lose both legs in high-speed crash in Macduff

A drunk teenager who caused a high-speed crash, which resulted in an aspiring footballer undergoing a double leg amputation, has been detained.

Arran Paterson was driving an Audi A5 at around 90mph through thick fog when he crashed in Maduff, Aberdeenshire, in September last year.

The collision left Adam Golebiewski, then 17, with life-changing injuries, and two other teenage passengers with serious spinal injuries.

Patterson, 19, was driving a courtesy car which was being used by his parents, and that he was not insured to drive.

He was taking three youths home from a local social club in Banff around 2.30am when the crash unfolded.

Adam Golebiewski, who lost both of his legs in a car crash in Aberdeenshire, was invited to watch local side Cove Rangers train. Cove Rangers FC

A woman, who had just finished work, reported hearing a loud bang followed by a screeching noise and a further loud bang.

She ran towards the noise and saw the Audi on its roof and recognised one of the occupants as her daughter who was screaming.

The court heard that Paterson had freed himself from the vehicle and appeared to have cuts over his face and hands.

Emergency services arrived and noted that the male passenger had sustained traumatic leg injuries.

Hospital staff later deemed his injuries beyond reconstruction, and both limbs were amputated below the knee.

The car was extensively damaged, and there was also damage to a nearby wall caused by the collision.

The other two passengers suffered serious spinal injuries, and one has been unable to return to work since the crash.

Paterson was found to have 62 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, which exceeds the prescribed limit for driving of 50 milligrams.

Paterson, of Macduff, was ordered to be detained in a Young Offenders institute for 32 months after pleading guilty to charges of dangerous driving, being over the drink-drive limit and driving without insurance.

He was also disqualified from driving for five years and four months.

Alison McKenzie, procurator fiscal for Grampian, Highland and Islands, said: “Arran Paterson’s conduct was reckless and reprehensible and had devastating consequences for at least one of the passengers in that car.

“That individual has been robbed of a promising football career, and his right to a normal life has also been taken away from him.

“Paterson has now been prosecuted and held accountable for his actions, which should serve as a reminder that Scotland’s prosecutors will act to keep the public safe from dangerous drivers.

“We urge anyone who believes someone may be driving while unfit through alcohol or drugs to report them to the police to avoid tragic outcomes like this one.”