A drink-driving Royal Marine who was almost four times the alcohol limit crashed into a lamp-post as he tried to drive 800 metres between the pub and his parents’ home.
Nathan Kennedy, who is stationed in Arbroath, had returned to Aberdeenshire to visit friends and family and was socialising at the local pub in Newmachar before the crash.
Despite the bar being less than a kilometre away from his parents’ house where he was staying, the 21-year-old chose to drive the “easily walkable” short distance.
But before he could reach his parents’ place, Kennedy crashed the car into a lamp-post on the A947 Oldmeldrum Road and was found by police.
Fiscal depute Andrew McMann told Aberdeen Sheriff Court that the incident happened just before 1.40am on October 29 of this year.
Facing discharge from marines
Police arrived at the scene of the collision and found Kennedy to be the driver.
He pled guilty to driving with 87 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is just 22 microgrammes.
Defence agent Michael Burnett said his client, whose commanding officer was also present to observe the hearing, could potentially be facing discharge from the marines over the case.
He added the “best” case scenario would see Kennedy given a final written warning, with a black mark on his record.
‘He took a chance’
Mr Burnett explained that his client had driven home from a military base in Arbroath to visit friends and family.
He said: “The pub he’d been in is only 800 metres from his parents’ address where he was staying. It’s easily walkable.
“He’d been drinking in the pub and, for reasons he can’t fully explain, he decided to take the vehicle.
“He was aware he was over the limit and he took a chance.
“It’s a very short distance but, notwithstanding that, the car left the road and damaged this lamp-post.”
Mr Burnett said Kennedy had left the vehicle to “compose himself” and was found nearby by police.
He described his client as a “very impressive young man with a bright future ahead of him”.
‘Highly regarded’ marine
Sheriff Kevin Duffy told Kennedy, of Oldmeldrum Road in Newmachar, references made it clear that he is “highly regarded in the marines”.
He said Kennedy was a first-time offender and accepted the offence was “out of character”.
He fined him £520 and banned him from driving for 16 months.
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