Woman admits letting child under 10 drive car barefoot through dark village
A woman let a girl under 10 drive a car barefoot through a village, a court has heard.
Sophie-Leigh Gemmell, 32, admitted to culpable and reckless conduct after footage emerged of the girl driving the car in Crimond, Aberdeenshire. The girl had been driving barefoot and in bad weather on July 10 last year.
Gemmell's sentence at Peterhead Sheriff Court was deferred for reports until next month. She admitted culpably and recklessly, and with utter disregard for the consequences, letting a child drive a motor vehicle on a public road in poor weather and barefoot to the danger of others - particularly the child.
A clip of the child driving, which was about a minute long, was uploaded to social media. The video showed the child driving while dark and using wipers and indicators as she peered over the steering wheel.
As the clip played, music such as the Sugababes was heard during one section. In the clip, Gemmell was heard cheering.
The sentence was deferred by Sheriff Annella Cowan in order to obtain a criminal justice social work report on Gemmell, from Crimond, according to the BBC.
There have been other incidents in the UK where children have driven vehicles that have resulted in police taking action. A 12-year-old was accused of stealing a BMW X5 with a holiday caravan attached before taking it on a 40-mile joyride.
The boy was allegedly spotted by police after driving some distance and reaching the London-bound at Garforth, outside Leeds. Police following the young man said, despite the long drive, he was barely able to see over the wheel of the car.
He was due to appear at Harrogate Magistrates' Court earlier this month on Friday, March 14. But he failed to turn up for court appearance, and police were forced to issue an arrest warrant before embarking on a countrywide manhunt.
A spokesperson for the court previously said in a statement that the then 11-year-old was due to appear in court on charges of theft of a motor vehicle, driving it dangerously and handling stolen goods.
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Mosquera said after seeing Mr Longworth's dismembered body, he decided to do the same to Mr Alfonso's corpse. 'Yes I saw Paul's body and I cut Albert's. I don't know the exact moment but I cut it having seen Paul's body'. The trial heard how Mosquera was interrupted by a man while he was attempting to dispose of the suitcases on Clifton Suspension Bridge. Prosecutor Ms Heer, KC, said: 'At about 11.30pm on the night of the 10 July 2024 Douglas Cunningham was cycling home across the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol when he saw the defendant, Yostin Mosquera, standing next to a large red suitcase. 'Thinking he was a lost tourist, Mr Cunningham stopped to see if he was okay. 'A few metres away from where the defendant was standing, on the bridge approach, there was another suitcase, a large silver trunk. 'The defendant told Mr Cunningham that he was from Colombia and that the suitcase he was standing with contained car parts. That was a lie. 'In fact, the suitcases contained the decapitated and dismembered bodies of Paul Longworth and Albert Alfonso, which the defendant had taken to Bristol from their home in London where they had been killed two days before.' The trial heard how Mosquera was visiting Mr Alfonso at the time of the killings, having returned to the UK to stay with the couple on June 9 2024. On June 29 2024, Mr Alfonso and Mr Longworth took Mosquera to Brighton for the day, with photos showing them at Brighton pier, drinking beer and going on a zip wire. They also engaged in sex sessions along with another man, known by pseudonym James Smith in the trial. But on July 8 last year, Mosquera hatched his plan to kill Mr Longworth and Mr Alfonso before attempting to cover up their deaths. Mosquera had denied both murders and sought to blame Mr Alfonso for killing Mr Longworth. But the prosecution's case was that Mr Alfonso did not know and that he was out of the flat at work at the time Mr Longworth was killed and that Mosquera hid the body before he returned. The court heard that Mosquera had also got hold of Mr Alfonso's financial information, copying over spreadsheets containing his bank details relating to Barclays, Halifax, Natwest, Moneygram and Paypal on June 27. Prosecutors told the court this was to 'steal' money from Mr Alfonso. On July 8 last year, the day of the murders, Mosquera also looked up the value of the Scotts Road flat in a bid to 'find out what they [the couple] were worth'. Mosquera claimed during the trial that he feared for his own life and believed he was about to be killed when he stabbed Mr Alfonso. He also said he was 'raped every day' by Mr Alfonso, telling jurors it made him feel 'humiliated, sad and trapped', but never angry. But prosecutor Ms Heer KC reminded the court that his 'detailed' defence statement produced for trial made no mention of the alleged rape. The case was put to a retrial after incorrect evidence was placed before the jury. Mr Justice Bennathan told Mosquera, aided in the dock by an interpreter: 'I am not going to pass sentence on you today. The only sentence I can pass is one of life imprisonment.' The judge ordered psychiatric reports and adjourned sentence until 24 October. Mr Justice Bennathan also thanked the jurors who had to view the horrific footage repeatedly throughout trial.
