A former soldier turned lorry driver has lost his licence for drink-driving after he used alcohol to deal with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Army veteran Derek Turner turned to drink to help him sleep after being woken by night terrors.
But when a deer ran out in front of his lorry the following day and caused a crash, testing showed him to be over the legal drink-drive limit.
Turner, 50, pled guilty to a single drink-driving charge at Inverness Sheriff Court.
Fiscal depute Shamielah Ghafar told the court that at around 11.30am on July 12 last year police were called to a road traffic collision on the A82 approximately two miles south of Fort Augustus.
She said: “There was a vehicle at a 45-degree angle with extensive damage.”
The court heard that Turner – who has been on tours of duty in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan – was sitting on a wall nearby and told officers he was the driver.
Lorry driver smelled of alcohol
“He had slurred speech and was smelling strongly of alcohol,” said Ms Ghafar.
Subsequent testing revealed Turner to have 180 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millitres of urine – the legal limit being 67.
Solicitor Clare Russell for Turner told the court that drink-driving was “very out of character” for the first-offender, who served in the military for 23 years and reached the rank of warrant officer.
and serving seven operational tours in countries such as Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan.
She said: “He has PTSD and as a result of that suffers from night terrors. In the early hours of the morning he had awoken with night terrors.
“He made the decision to consume alcohol to assist him in getting back to sleep.”
She added that the following morning her client did not feel under the influence of alcohol.
Veteran lost job and licence
Since leaving the army Turner has worked as an HGV driver, a job he has lost as a result of this incident.
Handing down a £520 fine and 20-month disqualification, Sheriff Robert Frazer: “You should have been behind the wheel of any vehicle on this date, let alone a lorry.”
If Turner, of Burnside, Nairn, completes a drink-drive rehabilitation course the ban will be reduced by five months.
