26-06-2025
Driver smashed into car on wrong side of road - then blamed deer for being 'too beautiful'
A driver veered into the wrong lane and smashed into an oncoming vehicle – them blamed a deer for being too beautiful.
Rafal Woolny was driving his Jeep on the A816 Oban to Lochgilphead road last November when he crashed into a Land Rover.
The 47-year-old escaped from his vehicle unhurt – and the driver and passenger of the other vehicle too sustained only minor injuries, as both cars were travelling around 30mph.
When the matter reached court, it was questioned whether the fact that Woolny hails from Poland might have been a factor.
But his lawyer said it would be all too easy to suggest Woolny, of Taynuilt, had driven on the right side of the road because that's how they drive in Poland.
That was not a factor, he told the court – but a 'beautiful deer' was.
Oban Sheriff Court heard how the crash took place on the stretch of road at Kames Bay, Kilmelford, on November 3, 2024.
Procurator fiscal depute Amber Feeney told the court: 'It was 5.30pm and the complainer was driving north at Kilmelford in a Land Rover Discovery with a passenger.
'They saw headlights coming towards them on their side of the carriageway.
'The accused was on the wrong side of the carriageway in his Jeep.
'Woolny was travelling at 30mph and the complainer was travelling slightly more slowly.'
It was at that point the two cars smashed into each other.
Woolny got out of his car and asked the two people in the Land Rover: 'Are you okay? Are you okay?'
Fortunately, all three people involved emerged from the crash unhurt and the police were called.
Woolney admitted a charge of carless driving.
Defence lawyer Graeme Wright told the court: 'The first thing my client did was make sure everyone was alright.
'My client had his full beam on because a deer had been on the road.
'He moved to the right-hand side of the road because of that.
'He failed to return to the left-hand side.
'My client was thinking of the deer and how beautiful it looked. He froze.'
Mr Wright said Woolny was not a novice driver, and it would be all too easy to suggest that, because he was Polish, he had reverted to the wrong side of the road.
He continued: 'He passed his driving test in 1999 in Poland and has been driving here since 2015.
'Due to his job in fish farming, he has in the past driven upwards of 30,000 miles per year and has no points on his licence in that time.
'He now drives 10,000-15,000 miles per annum around the west coast of Scotland, and there are no endorsements on his licence.
'This is careless driving, and it is a misjudgement that was momentary.
'He is regretful of his actions. This was out of character.'
It also emerged that, while Woolny had a Polish driving licence, he hadn't converted it into a UK licence.
Sheriff Clare Arias told him he must do that urgently.
She told Woolny: 'I am fining you £900, and there will be a £40 victim's surcharge.
'When you apply for a British licence, you will have seven penalty points.'
