News / Sheriff says chef lied
A GERMAN chef was disqualified from driving for eight months at Lerwick Sheriff Court after being found guilty of attempting to drive while twice the legal limit for alcohol.
Mario Pohlmann, c/o The Manse, South Road, Lerwick, accepted that he was in charge of the car, but insisted that he had no intention to drive it away when he was arrested just after 3am on 6 January.
The 38 year old told the court that he had been at the Tesco supermarket the previous evening, and when he returned to his Alfa Romeo car it would not start.
He left his vehicle and after a night out with his workmates he returned to the Tesco car park to see if the engine would start, but it did not.
Shortly afterwards police arrived at the scene after being alerted by some taxi passengers who had stopped at the car park to withdraw some money from the cashpoint machine outside the supermarket.
Giving evidence, Pohlmann told the court that he would never drive when intoxicated, a lesson he had learned when a cousin of his was involved in a drink-driving accident that killed several people.
He said he just wanted to check whether he had to organise a garage the following day, and was concerned how he would get to work the following afternoon.
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said he found it difficult to accept that Pohlmann would not have driven had the engine started.
Defending, solicitor Tommy Allan said his client accepts that it was a stupid decision to go near the vehicle.
He had already left the vehicle when the police turned up, but Mackenzie said that the circumstances pointed in the direction that had the car started, in all likelihood Pohlmann would have driven it away.
“You are a decent man who made a stupid decision,” he said.
Sheriff Philip Mann told Pohlmann that he did not believe him and found him guilty of the charge.
After learning that Pohlmann had already effectively banned from driving since his first court appearance on 7 January when a bail condition was imposed that he was not to drive, Sheriff Mann disqualified him for eight months. He was also fined £500.
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