Court / Fined and banned for ‘very bad example’ of dangerous drink driving

A THIRTY one year old man who admitted driving dangerously while almost four times the legal alcohol limit has been banned from the road for a year and fined £1,200.

Anthony Stewart, of Upper Hillside, Gulberwick, admitted to the offence which took place on 8 August this year when he appeared at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday.

Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie outlined how a husband and wife had witnessed him pulling out of a junction between Upper Hillside and Lerwick in a concerning manner.

The couple had followed him into Lerwick and witnessed Stewart’s vehicle dangerously veering back and forth onto the roadside verge and onto the wrong side of the road, as well as repeatedly mounting pavements.

He struggled to park his car at the Tesco supermarket in Lerwick at which point the couple called the police, who went on to apprehend Stewart.

A breath test showed that he had 84 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 22mcg.

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Defence agent Tommy Allan said his client, a self-employed builder, head been drinking heavily the night before but could not offer any excuse for his behaviour.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank said it was a “very bad example of dangerous driving” and it had been fortunate no one was injured.

Stewart was handed two 12-month driving bans, to run concurrently, and will only be able to reapply for a licence once he has completed an extended driving competence test.

A TWENTY six year old man has been disqualified from driving for 12 months and fined £500 after coming close to knocking down a woman walking along a roadside while pushing a pram.

James Andrew Leaper, of Maidenfield, Mossbank, admitted driving dangerously on 22 April this year between the Sandside junction and the Welcome Inn at Mossbank.

When exiting the junction he deliberately caused his rear wheels to lose traction and spin at high speed, going on to excessively fast before having to take “sudden evasive action” to avoid hitting the woman.

MacKenzie said the incident had occurred at 2.10pm when two young mothers were out walking their young children in their prams – one on a narrow pavement and the other on the side of the road.

Due to the speed at which Leaper was driving they thought they were going to be run over until the vehicle swerved at “the very last second”, the fiscal said.

Defence agent Tommy Allan said his client accepted that his driving had fallen “way below the standard required”.

FAILURE to insure an old car has resulted in a thirty year old man losing his licence for six months under the totting up procedure.

Jack Johnson, of Hageli, Whiteness, admitted the offence at Lerwick’s North Lochside on 4 May this year.

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Having already previously incurred penalty points, the imposition of a further six points resulted in a disqualification. He was also fined £300.

AN AMERICAN woman who drove without a valid UK licence has been disqualified from driving.

Emma Mounsey, 33, of North Ness, Trondra, had been eligible to drive using her US licence for the first 12 months she was in the country.

But she had subsequently failed to obtain a valid UK licence and had then driven to a shop on Scalloway’s Main Street on 29 December while unaccompanied and not displaying ‘L’ plates. Her vehicle also had no insurance.

She was fined £400 and received six penalty points, resulting in a six-month ban under the totting up procedure.