A Lerwick man who drove to the town’s Tesco supermarket while nearly six times the alcohol limit has had his sentence deferred until April.
Andrew Georgeson, of Lower Sound, appeared from custody at Lerwick Sheriff Court yesterday to plead guilty to driving with 131 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath at Tesco and elsewhere in Lerwick on Thursday (30 March).
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said police were tipped off by a concerned member of the public shortly after midday.
The car was parked at Tesco while the 57-year-old went inside, but when officers arrived on the scene the vehicle had left.
However, they were able to trace the car to Georgeson’s house. He admitted using the vehicle and drink-driving tests were carried out.
Mr Mackenzie said it seemed like the man was a “functioning alcoholic” and requested the car, valued at £10,000, to be forfeited.
Defence agent Chris Dowle said he opposed the forfeiture of the vehicle, which he said was bought two years ago at a price of £21,000.
He added that his client had an “unblemished” driving record apart from a historical speeding offence and said the latest incident was a “catastrophic fall from grace”.
The solicitor said the distance of the drive in question from where the witness saw the incident commence to his home was 0.8 miles.
Sheriff Philip Mann deferred the case until April 12 to enable Georgeson’s defence to prepare a challenge to the forfeiture of the vehicle.
He disqualified Georgeson in the interim and released him on bail with the special condition that he does not dispose of the car.
