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HONEST Swede Andreas Back travelled 1000 miles to plead guilty to a driving offence in Scotland.

The 26-year-old spent £400 on two flights, two bus trips and a hire car to get him to Fort William Sheriff Court, where he admitted driving without insurance in nearby Corpach last November.

And sheriff Colin MacKay was so impressed, he let Andreas off without so much as a fine.

He said: "This is almost unbelievable. People from this very town can't turn up for court on time but you managed to do it from north Sweden. Due to the exceptional circumstances, I will take the unusual course of not fining you.

"Despite the summons to attend the court today, I think if you had phoned from Sweden and explained where you lived you would have been excused a personal appearance."

The sheriff admonished Andreas and imposed six penalty points.

The exhausted Swede said later: "I set out on my travels at 4am yesterday.

"I phoned the court but maybe they did not fully comprehend that I would have to come all the way from Sweden - although after working in Scotland for three years my English is quite good.

"It is excellent that the sheriff letme off with no fine."

Andreas had worked with a Scots chef in Sweden - and when he returned home to Oban, Andreas decided to join him.

He worked in a restaurant, with a builder and latterly at Banavie Quarry, near FortWilliam.

But he returned home last December as his mother was dying from cancer.

Andreas said yesterday: "I did not plan to return to Scotland for another year as my father is taking the death of my mother very badly and I need to be at home to support him.

"My Volvo was off the road for a couple of months here and I was driving it to the garage on the last day of its MOT to renew the MOT when the police stopped me for having cancelled the car's insurance while it was laid up."

After receiving his summons, Andreas set off early on Wednesday from his home in the ski resort of Vemdalen, where the snow is currently two metres deep.

He got on a bus for a 130-mile trip south to Mora. The journey took three hours.

He then had to catch an internal flight from Dala airport outside Mora to another small airport near the capital Stockholm, 140 miles away.

Andreas then had a 65-mile bus ride to Skavsta airport - where staff told him he'd have to wait 12 hours for a flight to Prestwick.

The 870-mile flight took off at 9pm and took around two hours.

But the Hertz hire desk at Prestwick was closed and Andreas had to sleep in the terminal building until it opened in the morning.

He arrived in court in Fort William by the skin of his teeth after travelling by car for a further three hours and 125 miles.

And having avoided a fine, all Andreas faces now is the 1000- mile journey home.