A joiner who swigged from a bottle of vodka while behind the wheel has been spared jail – despite being seven times the drink-drive limit.
David McLachlan was reported by a concerned member of the public who was concerned about his driving on the B9089 Kinloss to Burghead road on September 27 last year.
Police attended the scene and gave the 60-year-old a breath test, which revealed he was more than seven times the drink-drive limit.
McLachlan had 155 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 22mcg.
He previously admitted the offence, and appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court yesterday for sentencing.
The court heard McLachlan was driving his brother-in-law’s van when he bought a bottle of vodka to drink when he returned home – but decided to open it behind the wheel.
Defence solicitor Iain Maltman said his client was trying to stop drinking, and that his new accommodation at Guildry House in Elgin was helping.
He said: “The dry house policy at Guildry House is helping my client a lot and he is attending Arrows regularly as well.”
Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov banned McLachlan for 28 months and ordered him to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work. She also imposed a restriction of liberty order for 96 orders.
