Too ill to be breathalysed

A FARMER has been disqualified from driving for 18 months after being found “significantly under the influence” in a supermarket car park before failing to provide two samples of breath.

David William Anderson, of New House, Scousburgh, was also fined £600 on Thursday when he appeared at Lerwick Sheriff Court.

Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie told court that police were tipped off about Anderson’s driving in the Co-op supermarket car park in Lerwick on 19 March.

They found the 50 year old  “clearly under the influence” and exuding a “strong smell of alcohol”, he said.

An initial breath test showed a reading of almost two and a half times the new drink driving limit, but when Anderson was taken to Lerwick police station he was too ill to give any further specimens and ended up in hospital where he received “medication for alcohol withdrawal”.

Defence solicitor Tommy Allan said that Anderson was “under pressure” at the time of the offence due to a potential livestock-related court case and had turned to alcohol.

He had since been referred to the NHS for counselling and his friends and family had “rallied around him”, he said.

Sheriff Philip Mann said he had “no option” but to impose a driving disqualification and a fine.