A drink driver who caused a crash on Moray’s busiest road has been banned from getting behind the wheel for two years.
John Henderson, from Dunphail near Forres, sent a car spinning across the carriageway after crashing into the back of it on the A96 Aberdeen to Inverness road.
Yesterday the 69-year-old was sentenced at Elgin Sheriff Court after also pleading guilty to a charge of careless driving.
Fiscal Alex Swain said Henderson had been driving on the Forres by-pass on November 8 last year, closely behind another car.
When that vehicle slowed down to turn into Market Street, however, he failed to notice the change of speed.
Miss Swain said: “The accused’s car collided with the back of the other car just as it started to make the turn.
“The impact caused it to spin approximately 180 degrees and travel backwards where it collided with a traffic island bollard and a stationary car.”
Breath tests carried out by police revealed Henderson had 78 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 mililitres of breath – more than three times the 22 mcg limit.
Solicitor Matthew O’Neill said: “Mr Henderson has essentially been self-medicating with alcohol to cope with issues from a previous career where he saw some horrific things.
“He is now finally seeing support services and taking positive steps.”
Henderson, of Tomdaw Cottage in Dunphail, was given a two-year driving ban and placed under supervision for a year after pleading guilty to charges of drink driving and careless driving.
