A soldier previously credited with good decision-making drove home from the pub after seeing off “seven to eight” double vodkas.
Jamie MacDonald, 20, initially told police a taxi, his friends or his mother had collected him from The Blacksmiths in Culloden after they were tipped off about his behaviour by a concerned member of the public.
But he later admitted drink-driving and pled guilty to the single offence from February 5 of this year at Inverness Sheriff Court.
Fiscal depute Hilary Michopoulou told the court that MacDonald had been drinking at the Keppoch Road establishment with his girlfriend and another witness on the night in question.
Witness ‘suggested’ MacDonald should not drive
She said: “They both report seeing the accused drink seven to eight double vodka drinks in the evening between 6pm and 12am.”
The court heard that, at the end of the evening, MacDonald walked to his vehicle, and was seen sitting in it waiting for it to warm up.
Mrs Michopoulou said the witness was “concerned that the accused was preparing to drive his car” and “suggested that he didn’t drive” to which the accused replied he was waiting for a taxi.
Drink-driver previously saved boy, 14, from being beaten up
However, a short time later the witness saw the car drive off with MacDonald at the wheel. Police were made aware and attended at MacDonald’s home address where the white Audi was parked outside with one wheel on the kerb.
“From tracks left in the snow it seemed the car had been driven for several metres along the pavement before stopping,” said Mrs Michopoulou.
The fiscal said the accused “smelled strongly of alcohol” and “generally gave the impression he was intoxicated”.
He gave officers various versions of events as to how he got home including a taxi, a lift from friends and having his mum pick him up.
When asked to confirm who had been driving his car he told officers: “My mother.”
He failed a breath test and was arrested. Subsequent testing revealed his breath alcohol level to be 89 microgrammes of alcohol per 100ml of breath – more than four times the legal limit of 22 microgrammes.
‘You need to think carefully about consuming alcohol’
Solicitor Duncan Henderson, for MacDonald, handed Sheriff Gary Aitken a letter from a senior officer in support of his client.
He said the offence was a “matter of regret” for MacDonald and added: “This is going to have a profound effect on that career. The military will have their own discipline procedures that will take place on top of any penalty that takes place today.”
Mr Henderson told the court his client was a man previously credited with good decision-making, detailing how in 2021 he had stepped in to perform CPR on a member of the public in need, while in 2022 he had intervened to protect a 14-year-old who was being set upon by a gang of older teens.
Sheriff Aitken said: “Mr MacDonald, you need to think carefully about consuming alcohol and the effect that has on your judgment.
“There is clear information that you are a person who can make very good and very difficult decisions in very difficult circumstances, it is, therefore, all the more regrettable that you made an exceedingly poor decision.
“The saving grace is that nothing untoward happened as you were driving back.
“The breath alcohol level is very high and that will have to be marked at sentencing.”
He fined MacDonald, of Moray Park Wynd, Culloden, £1,040 and disqualified him from driving for 16 months, which could be reduced by a quarter if MacDonald successfully completes a drink-drive rehabilitation course.
