A hospital worker from Lerwick who drove to the supermarket to top-up her electricity meter while nearly five times the drink-driving limit has landed a driving disqualification of nearly two years and a hefty fine.
Rosemary Stewart, of 10 Burgh Road, admitted at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday to driving in the town with 104 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath, on 17 April.
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said the 61 year old was spotted by a member of the public who was so concerned that he followed her.
The woman ended up in the carpark of the Co-op supermarket on Holmsgarth Road, with the man taking the keys off her until police arrived.
She failed a roadside test and was then arrested and taken to the police station.
Defence agent Tommy Allan said the woman suffered from depression and anxiety and had been using alcohol as a “support mechanism”.
He said the woman used her car to drive to the supermarket to top-up her electricity meter as her lights had gone out.
Sheriff Philip Mann disqualified Stewart from driving for 20 months and fined her £600.
A Lerwick man unaware that Scotland’s drink driving law had changed before taking to the wheel while marginally over the limit has been banned from the road.
Benjamin Davis, of 25 Westerloch, admitted at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday to driving with 28 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath, while also being uninsured.
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said the police were alerted in the early hours of the morning due to the manner of the 28 year old’s driving and a defective headlight.
Defence agent Tommy Allan said his client had been drinking earlier in the day and having been in Australia for a number of years, was unaware the Scottish drink-drinking limit had become stricter.
He said Davis was visiting an old friend as he returned to Shetland to be a best man at a wedding.
Sheriff Philip Mann said it was “unfortunate” that the ex-pat fell foul of the new alcohol limit.
“Ignorance of the law is no excuse, but I see the excess is not particularly large,” he ruled.
Sheriff Mann disqualified Davis from driving for one year and fined him a total of £550.