A drink-driver seriously injured his neighbour after losing control on a roundabout has been spared jail.
Gregg McQueen appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday for sentencing, having previously admitted driving dangerously while drunk and ploughing into a taxi.
His passenger, Laura Wilson was left with a dislocated and fractured hip as well as a broken arm following the incident on October 23 last year.
Defence agent Lynn Benton said the 32-year-old had accepted full responsibility for the crash and made no excuses for his actions.
She said that the removals man had shown remorse for the impact the accident had on Miss Wilson.
But she urged the court to consider an alternative to a custodial sentence for the father-of-one, of the city’s Burnbrae Crescent.
Sheriff Graeme Napier banned McQueen from driving for two years and ordered him to complete 160 hours of unpaid work over the next six months.
He also imposed a restriction of liberty order meaning McQueen will have to wear an electronic tag for six months.
Sheriff Napier said the sentence was a direct alternative to custody.
He added: “She (Miss Wilson) knew how much you had to drink, that’s not to blame her for this accident but it’s a factor I have taken into account.
“You could have killed yourself and her. People are all to blase about their ability to drive under the influence of alcohol and you have found out the hard way.”
The court previously heard McQueen had been driving his black Volkswagen Golf while more than twice the limit.
Court papers revealed McQueen had 54 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 22mcg.
When she was interviewed by police, Miss Wilson said she saw the accused drinking two vodkas shortly before they got into his car.
Miss Wilson claimed McQueen had been driving at a speed of about 40mph just before impact.
Following the crash, she spent three weeks in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and a further seven days in Woodend Hospital.
