A driver has been banned from the roads after he was caught while more than four times the drink-drive limit on Christmas Eve.
Vladut Hostina, 27, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted getting behind the wheel after meeting a friend for drinks during the festive period.
Police stopped Hostina’s vehicle on Aberdeen’s Union Street at around 9pm on Christmas Eve and carried out a roadside breath test that showed he was under the influence.
A further test at the police station showed that Hostina was driving while more than four times the drink-drive limit.
He pleaded guilty to one charge of drink-driving on December 24 last year.
Fiscal depute Rebecca Thompson told the court that police had stopped Hostina’s car at 9.05pm on Union Street.
She said: “Roadside procedures were carried out as there was a smell of alcohol coming from the accused.
“He was required to provide a specimen of breath for a roadside breath test, which provided a positive result.
“The accused was thereafter arrested and a further breath test was carried out.”
When breathalysed Hostina gave a reading of 90 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 22mg.
Amount of alcohol was ‘quite significant’
Defence agent Ian Woodward-Nutt told the court that Hostina, a construction worker, had met a friend for a drink and had intended not to drive home.
He added: “He has never been in any trouble before in either the UK or Romania.
“He met a friend in the pub and was to leave his car there, but after taking alcohol he made the fateful decision to drive home.”
Sheriff Lesley Johnstone told him that the amount of alcohol in his breath when tested was “quite significant”.
“It was more than four times the limit”, she said.
“So I’m going to disqualify you from driving for the minimum period.”
Sheriff Johnston banned Hostina, of Glendale Mews, Aberdeen, from driving for 12 months and fined him £640.
For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen, as well as the latest crime and breaking incidents, join our new Facebook group HERE.
