A university lecturer, who is also a chaplain for the Russian orthodoxy, has been caught drink-driving while more than triple the booze limit.
Oleksandr Menshykov, who is the only chaplain of Russian orthodoxy in Scotland, was spotted driving “rather erratically” by police on Elphinstone Road, Port Elphinstone, on April 9.
Officers pulled over the 42-year-old, who is also a lecturer in engineering at Aberdeen University, and could smell alcohol on him.
And a test revealed Menshykov was more than three times over the legal alcohol limit.
Crown narrative
Fiscal depute Alison Reid told Aberdeen Sheriff Court: “The time of the offence was around 9.30pm.
“At that time, police officers saw the vehicle referred to in the charge being driven rather erratically.
“The manner of driving gave cause for concern.
“Police officers stopped the vehicle, spoke to the accused and could smell a strong smell of alcohol.”
A test then showed Menshykov was over the alcohol limit.
The charge
Menshykov, of Lochter Drive in Inverurie, pled guilty to driving with 74 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath.
The legal limit is 22 microgrammes.
Mitigation
Defence agent Shane Campbell said his client was a Ukrainian national and had been living in the UK for 15 or 16 years.
He said: “He’s currently employed as a lecturer at Aberdeen University in engineering.
“He is also the only chaplain in respect of the Russian orthodoxy. In relation to the whole of Scotland, he’s the sole chaplain attending to practitioners across the country.
“Disqualification will not affect his duties in the university but will affect his ability to carry out his pastoral duties.
“He’s held a licence for 23 years – 11 years in the UK.
“The incident took place a short distance from his home address in Inverurie.
“He’d been to a friend’s house. He had consumed what he described to me as ‘a couple of shots’ and then felt that he was okay to drive the short distance, about a mile and a half, from his friend’s house to his own address.”
Sentence
Sheriff Margaret Hodge told Menshykov: “I have taken into account what Mr Campbell has told me.
“Obviously losing your licence will impact on your pastoral duties. You will simply have to deal with that.”
She fined him £640 and banned him from driving for a year.
