News / Drink drivers avoid jail
TWO Shetland drivers avoided jail at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday after admitting their second drink driving offence.
However a third man convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol may be locked up if a trial over three other motoring offences goes against him in July.
Last month Sheriff Graeme Napier warned unemployed Marina Sinclair, of 4 Toabsgeo, Virkie, that she was likely to go to prison after pleading guilty to dangerous driving in snow and ice while twice the limit for drink driving last Christmas Eve.
The court heard that Sinclair had drunk a bottle of vodka the night before and only napped lightly on the sofa before heading out in wintry conditions on the main A970 in Dunrossness to deliver Christmas presents.
The 56 year old was arrested after she crashed into an oncoming car four miles into her journey. It was her second drink driving offence.
Defence agent Chris Dowle said she had decided to drive on impulse because she “wasn’t thinking straight” and had not appreciated how bad the conditions were. Sheriff Napier pointed out that police at the time had been warning people to stay at home and only drive if absolutely necessary.
After hearing of her remorse and the loss of up to £2,000 from her car being written off, the sheriff ordered Sinclair to carry out 160 hours community service and placed her under a weekend curfew for the next six months.
She was also banned from driving for five years and told she must re-sit the extended test before she gets her licence back.
Crofter John Wishart, of Kirkabister, Brettabister, North Nesting, was banned for 10 years and ordered to carry out 200 hours voluntary work after he admitted driving while three times the limit at Skellister on 16 April, just four months after a previous driving ban had elapsed.
The sheriff ordered the forfeiture of the 67 year old’s four wheel drive car, saying that it would destroyed unless it could raise more than the administration cost of selling it by public auction or private sale by the court.
Both Sinclair and Wishart were warned that if they breach their orders or are caught driving while disqualified, they will go to jail.
The same fate might befall 37 year old scaffolder Scott McCulloch, of Flat 3, 2 Mill Lane, Lerwick, who pled guilty to driving his works van while three and a half times the limit on various roads in north Lerwick on 10 April, eight months after he got his licence back after a previous ban.
The father of four has pled not guilty to failing to stop after crashing his car into a parked vehicle on Mill Lane on 10 April, failing to report the accident to the police and failing to stop after hitting a fence on the Gremista industrial estate the following day.
A trial has been fixed for 7 July, but Sheriff Napier warned McCulloch that its outcome would “significantly impact” on the way he dealt with the drink driving charge. In the meantime he has been told he must not get behind the wheel of a car.
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