A senior lawyer at Moray Council has opened up about his alcohol addiction to encourage others to put down the bottle.
Paul Nevin joined the local authority 13 years ago after facing a fitness panel to practise law.
Before moving to the area, the senior solicitor had twice been banned from driving for being drunk behind the wheel, experienced regular “blackouts” and had been convicted of being drunk and disorderly conduct.
Now Mr Nevin, who began his career as a psychiatric nurse, has told his story to charity Law Care while paying tribute to support from Moray Council for giving him “another chance” and has encouraged other sufferers to be “open and honest” about their addiction.
He said: “I worked hard and played hard, but with hindsight I realise I was playing too much. Abandoning my studies I went back to psychiatry – it’s what I wanted after all.
“At some point I’d crossed a line without noticing. I tried to stop many times. Alcohol-fuelled arguments gave way to aggressive behaviour, unreliability and relationship difficulties.”
After his first driving ban, Mr Nevin – who is originally from Belfast – was called to the Bar of England and Wales after completing his legal studies.
However, at the time, drinking was “common” in legal circles with much free time being spent in pubs.
Following a return to psychiatry the solicitor took a severance package from a hospital management job and admits to feeling “broken” and for the first time asked for help.
He said: “With support I stopped drinking and got honest. I was told that new opportunities would present themselves, but I was just happy to be sober.”
Mr Nevin then moved to the north of Scotland and worked in nursing homes before a paralegal position opened up at Moray Council.
He said: “It was a great opportunity, but I had a dilemma. My past might be discovered, which would surely prevent me from practising.
“I took a risk and wrote to the Law Society. A hearing was arranged and I told the truth. The panel agreed I was a fit and proper person and I cried.”
Mr Nevin added: “I’m indebted to the Law Society and Moray Council for giving me another chance.
“Organisations are just groups of humans, and when one human is open and honest with another, it is my experience that good things usually happen.”