A former taxi driver convicted of drink-driving and dangerous driving has been handed a supervision order.
Frank Price had denied four charges but was found guilty following a trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in April.
The 71-year-old – who chose to defend himself without the aid of a solicitor – questioned witnesses in sometimes testy courtroom scenes and referred to Sheriff Lesley Johnston as “dear” throughout.
Sheriff Johnston had to repeatedly warn him not to be disrespectful and at one point Price was heard to mutter: “I think I should have got a solicitor.”
Sentence had been deferred for reports and there was a substantial delay as social workers raised concerns about his presentation when he met with them.
Price, of Byron Avenue, Aberdeen, was found guilty of dangerous driving and driving with 78 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath.
The legal limit is 22 microgrammes.
He was also found guilty of failing to comply with a preliminary breath test and failing to disclose to police the identity of the driver.
The incident happened on roads in the Woodend area on August 7 2022.
Sentencing hearing
Now, at the long-awaited sentencing hearing, Sheriff Johnston said: “We’ve finally received the report from the psychologist who assessed you.
“I’m not going to go into all of the detail in the report, but the reason it was ordered was that, because of your presentation at your appointment with social work, they had some concerns.
“The report concludes there’s nothing that would prohibit me from imposing a community payback order and you’re not needing any further treatment mandated by the court.”
She ordered Price to be supervised for a year and disqualified him from driving for the same period.
During the trial, Price had been warned by the sheriff not to act disrespectfully towards witnesses and was even threatened with being kicked out of his own trial.
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