A property developer who crashed into a garden has been banned from the road after trying to outrun police in a 120mph chase.

Mark Harris was on his way home from the pub when he spotted police and sped off in his £65,000 car as they pursued him for several miles.

Traffic officers reached speeds of 120mph but failed to make any progress on Harris until he lost control and ploughed through a wall and into a garden on the outskirts of Dundee.

Harris denied fault, claiming he swerved to avoid a deer, but Perth Sheriff Court found him guilty of dangerous driving and failing to stop for the police.

Sheriff William Wood said: "He sought to outrun the police by his speed. I found his account of a deer in the road to be incredible.

"I have no reason to doubt the police officers' evidence about speed. When travelling at 120mph they didn't seem to be gaining. I reject Mr Harris's self-serving evidence."

Harris told the week-long trial he had pulled off the A90 into the village of Longforgan but denied driving at double the 30mph limit when he lost control and crashed into a wall.

Fiscal depute Bill Kermode told the court: "The pursuit lasted two or three miles. It is fortunate no one was on the pavement or in the garden.

"It was only brought to a halt by a collision which disabled his vehicle."

Harris admitted he had been drinking but claimed his driving had only been "careless".

He said: "I accept speeding. That does not mean to say I was doing 120mph.

"I was doing in excess of 90mph. I was fairly comfortable with my speed and capability for driving. I didn't see a problem.

"There was an animal - I think it was a deer - on my left hand side. I had a split second and I deliberately went in the opposite direction to avoid any collision. I hit a dyke."

Police had been looking for Harris as they had received two anonymous reports that he was driving under the influence of alcohol on his way home from the pub.

Inspector Neil McLeod, Police Scotland's head of road police training, told the trial he would have expected police to catch up quickly with Harris if he had been driving at a "normal" speed.

Harris, of Mylnefield House, Invergowrie, was found guilty of driving dangerously at over 100mph in wet road conditions on the A90 between Invergowrie and Longforgan, and driving at 60mph in Longforgan and showing total disregard for the safety of other road users.

He was found guilty of losing control of the car and colliding with a fence and wall at 89 Main Street, Longforgan.

He was also found guilty of failing to stop for a uniformed police officer during the incident on 23 December 2013.

Harris was cleared of failing to give a blood specimen for alcohol as he had a phobia of needles.

The sheriff banned Harris from driving on an interim basis and deferred sentence until next month.

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