A Peterhead man who was more than three times the legal drink driving limit has narrowly avoided losing his licence after he tried to sleep off the effects in his car.
Peterhead Sheriff Court heard that Wayne Thompson, 35, had been at a house party just before Christmas last year when he made the decision to sleep in his car.
His plan was scuppered, however, when police roused him early and arrested him.
‘He accepts full responsibility’
Fiscal depute Kirsty Martin told the court officers had attended the address on Inverquhomery Road after a tip-off from a concerned member of the public on December 22, and they found Thompson asleep in the driver’s seat of his black Ford Focus.
The woke him up and removed the keys from the ignition.
“The accused then spoke in a stop-start manner,” she said.
He claimed he had turned the ignition on to keep himself warm and would later record a reading of 77mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath. The limit is 22mg.
His defence solicitor, Marianne Milligan, explained Thompson had originally intended to wait for a bus but made the decision to sleep off the alcohol instead.
She said: “He had been at a house party the night before.
“He’s gone into the car and turned on the engine. He accepts full responsibility.”
Overseeing the hearing, Sheriff Robert McDonald said it was a matter where he “certainly would have considered” a driving ban but stopped short in this case.
Instead, he delivered 10 penalty points.
If a person is endorsed with 12 or more of these points within a three-year period they are automatically banned from the roads for six months.