Galashiels man: Police crashed into my car and broke promise

Galashiels resident Mark Neil, 48, was travelling along the town’s Langlee Road to return a parcel at around 1.40pm on March 22 when he heard the sirens of an emergency vehicle.

Mr Neil says he looked in his mirror and saw a police car with its blue lights on so pulled over “in a safe place”.

“Next thing I knew, this police car rammed into my front wing and he’s actually pushed me off the road onto the pavement,” said Mr Neil, speaking to this newspaper on Monday, March 29.

“I was shocked. It took me about a minute to gather myself and think, ‘What the hell happened there?’”

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Mr Neil – who lives in Laidlaw Court – is a blue light worker himself, having spent two decades with the ambulance service.

“I’ve been driving ambulances for 20 years and I’ve never been involved in an accident,” said Mr Neil, who works at Melrose ambulance station.

“I was thinking, ‘Have I done something wrong there?’ but I was just about stationary.

“The policeman got out and held his hands up. He admitted liability right away.”

Despite the police car “not going all that fast”, Mr Neil’s Range Rover Evoque had to be taken to the garage for repairs.

Mr Neil says he waited at the scene for an hour and a half before a police sergeant arrived to speak to him.

Mark Neil's car was damaged when a police car crashed into it in Galashiels. Photo: Mark Neil

According to Mr Neil, the sergeant told him that he would visit his home on Wednesday, March 24 to discuss the insurance claim.

However, Mr Neil says the sergeant did not turn up which he says “left me in the dark”.

“I was just a bit miffed,” he said. “The police have really not upheld their promise to visit me. I just felt really let down by the police.”

He continued: “It’s not a nice way to treat somebody. I thought I’ll take it further on Friday (March 26) and took it to my MSP, Christine Grahame.”

Mr Neil says he was then contacted by a police inspector in Melrose who told him that the paperwork was not submitted “in the correct manner”.

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Mr Neil said: “I just wonder if it hadn’t even been done and they’re trying to hide it. I’m just so frustrated.

“I’m in the blue light service myself, I wouldn’t want anyone else to be treated the way I’ve been. I thought the police would do things by the book and correctly.”

According to Mr Neil, his insurance provider got in touch with rental company Enterprise to sort out a hire car, but they won’t provide one “until the police’s insurance gets in contact with them”.

He added: “I’m a week without a car, through no fault of my own. I need it for commuting back and forward to my work.

“It was fortunate that I was on holiday last week, I didn’t really need it to an extent but that’s not the point.”

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Mr Neil says he was able to use his wife’s car initially, but after that broke down their household has been left “car-less”.

“The inspector said, ‘If there’s any way we can help getting you back and forward from your work get in touch’, so do I just phone 999 for a police taxi then, do I?” said Mr Neil. “I can’t rely on that.”

In response to Mr Neil’s comments, a Police Scotland spokesperson said: “A complaint has been received regarding this matter and it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

According to Mr Neil, a couple were walking their dog at the time of the car incident and shouted over to him. Mr Neil has asked the couple to get in touch with this newspaper.