An apprentice who drank “a couple of large vodkas” before driving his friends on a late-night camping trip has been banned from the road.
Gary Hackett had been drinking with friends at his home in Aberdeen before they decided to go on a last-minute camping trip to Tollohill Woods near Banchory Devenick.
The 26-year-old then jumped behind the wheel of his car at around 1.20am on September 5 last year.
When police spotted him in his silver Vauxhall car near Banchory Devenick, they carried out a breathalyser test which found him double limit.
Fiscal depute Miral Jaber told Aberdeen Sheriff Court that its reading showed he had 44 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath, the legal limit being 22.
Hackett, an apprentice mechanic, admitted the drink-driving charge.
Accused thought he was okay to drive
Defence agent Gregor Kelly said Hackett and his pals had decided on an impromptu trip for some remote camping at Tollohill Woods that evening.
“This was late summer and he and a group of pals on the spur of the moment had decided to go camping in a wooded area,” he said.
“He had had a couple of large vodkas at his home earlier and he thought he would be fine to drive given the time that had elapsed – but clearly that was not the case.”
‘I am sure you know the dangers’
That “error of judgement” on his part cost Hackett, of George Street, Aberdeen, his licence and a hefty fine of £750.
Sheriff Philip Mann told him: “I am not going to lecture you on the dangers of drink-driving. I am sure you know the dangers. You just have to open the papers on a daily basis to see the potential consequences.”
He told Hackett he can reduce his year-long road ban by three months if he pays for and undertakes a drink-driver rehabilitation and awareness course off his own back.
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