A man who killed a teenager in a drink-driving crash two decades ago has been spared jail after being caught over the limit on the same road for the third time.
Alexander MacDonald-Haig crashed his car on the A82 near Drumnadrochit on August 27 of this year and left the scene.
When he was traced by police he was found to be more than double the legal drink-drive limit.
His solicitor told the court he had never recovered his involvement in a fatal crash in 2004 on the same road, for which he was jailed for three years.
He asked the sheriff to consider imposing a drug treatment and testing order as an alternative to custody.
MacDonald-Haig had also been convicted of drink-driving on the A82 in 2016.
The 41-year-old appeared for sentencing at Inverness Sheriff Court having previously admitted the drink-driving charge.
Drink-driver’s A82 crash
At the earlier hearing fiscal depute David Morton told the court it was around noon when MacDonald-Haig’s vehicle was involved in a crash on the A82.
He said: “Police were called to deal with that road traffic collision. Mr MacDonald-Haig was no longer at the scene. He was traced by police a short time later nearby and confirmed that he had been the driver.”
He was taken to the police station and at around 4pm provided a breath alcohol reading of 55 microgrammes per 100 millilitres – more than double the legal limit of 22 microgrammes.
Solicitor David Patterson told the court that MacDonald-Haig had committed his first offence at 21 – which had resulted in a custodial sentence.
Driver ‘never really recovered’ from fatal crash
Referencing the fatal crash that sparked that sentence, Mr Patterson said: “He has never really recovered from what he has done.”
He added: “What is clear, with the ongoing issues that he has, is that he isn’t a man who should be in a car.”
Sentencing was initially deferred so that MacDonald-Haig could be assessed for suitability for a drug treatment and testing order
At the sentencing hearing, Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald placed MacDonald-Haig on the order for two years.
She asked him “You understand what a drug treatment and testing order is and you are prepared to engage in the order?”
To which he replied: “Very much so.”
Sheriff MacDonald said she was imposing the order “as a direct alternative to a custodial sentence” and warned him: “Failure to comply will result in an alternative disposal being considered – there is a very high likelihood that that would be the jail.”
The sheriff also banned MacDonald-Haig, of Drumnadrochit, from the roads for three years.
