A Highland mobile phone engineer will be sentenced later this month after admitting his second drink driving related offence.
James Davis, Castle Road East, Grantown on Spey, is facing a driving ban and the prospect of losing his job as he travels 40,000 miles a year, Inverness Sheriff Court was told yesterday.
The 55-year-old father of four had been at the work Christmas party on December 9 and spent the night in a local hotel.
He returned the following day to the BP Filling Station in Longman Road to pick up his work’s van and went in to the shop to buy a bottle of vodka, fiscal depute David Morton said.
“He was seen by police officers who were also at the filling station and he was required to give a breath sample which proved positive.”
Davis was taken to the nearby police station where he gave a reading almost five times the legal limit.
Yesterday at Inverness Sheriff Court, he admitted being drunk in charge of his vehicle.
Solicitor Willie Young said his previous conviction was several years old.
“He had been drinking heavily the night before and did the responsible thing of staying in a local hotel. He took a bus to the city centre to get his works vehicle, not realising he was still over the limit,” he said.
“He had no intention of driving it right away.”
He asked Sheriff Mark Stewart QC not to ban his client from driving.
But the Sheriff said he was concerned by the high reading, a second conviction and that Davis may have a drink problem
He decided to defer sentence until March 30 for a background report.