A train driver has been forced to quit his job after crashing his car while being over the drink-drive limit.
Roderick McDonald admitted drink driving in his white BMW south of Kilninver, near Oban, on June 10 when he appeared at the town’s sheriff court yesterday.
The 49-year-old, of 2 Clachan Dubh Cottage, Balvicar, was banned from driving for one year and fined £500.
Fiscal Eoin McGinty told Oban Sheriff Court: “Early in the morning a witness was driving near the village of Kilninver, when he came across a white BMW that was crashed into a ditch.
“He checked the car to make sure no one was inside. There wasn’t anyone inside, but the car was damaged and he noted the airbags had been deployed. He contacted police and carried on.
“He noticed McDonald walking towards Kilninver. He stopped and asked him if he had been the driver of the car that crashed and offered him a lift. McDonald said he had been the driver but was all right and had contact a friend who was coming to pick him up.
“Police arrived subsequent to that but could find no trace of McDonald.”
Later that morning, McDonald went to Oban police station to report the fact he had been involved in an accident.
A police officer said he could smell alcohol and asked if he had been drinking.
The court heard McDonald confirmed he had a glass of wine the night before, and a breath test showed he had 31 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 22 microgrammes.
His solicitor Gordon Seaton said: “He accepts he was drinking the night before. He seems to have miscalculated when it was safe to drive.
“He was working as a train driver, he has resigned from that as a result of this matter.
“He is trying to find work, that might not be very easy for him living in this area as his training is as a train driver. He is going to have to apply for benefits. He is presently living off his last wage.”
Sheriff Ruth Anderson QC said: “He waited before getting into the car, but not long enough. He was clearly considerably over the limit when he crashed the car, but we are only dealing with what he was when he went into the police station, which was just over the limit.”
