On yer bike

A SHETLAND farmer will be cycling to work after being banned from driving for at least 18 months at Lerwick Sheriff Court yesterday (Wednesday).

Malcolm Symington, of East Cottage, Brindister, Gulberwick, admitted driving while almost twice the legal limit for alcohol on the main road between Lerwick and Tingwall and at the Brig o Fitch on 29 May.

Symington, who celebrates his 44th birthday today (Thursday), was stopped at 9.30am due to the manner of his driving and tested positive after telling officers that would be the case.

Defence agent Tommy Allan said that his client’s life had gone downhill since he was the victim of a serious assault in Lerwick a few years ago, causing a change in his personality that caused the break up of his marriage.

Now he is having to travel the 25 miles between the isle of Whalsay and Fladdabister to farm 1,400 sheep and 40 cows, a journey he will be forced to make on two wheels rather than four.

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“He has already purchased a bike but it’s not realistic for him to travel the kind of distance he does at the moment, especially in the winter, so he will pay a hefty price for this,” Mr Allan said.

Sheriff Graeme Napier restricted the fine to £500 and said he could reduce the length of his driving ban by four months if he took part in an alcohol awareness course, but suggested Symington had a drink problem.