Courts in Moray: Witnesses stopped suspected drink driver
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Members of the public confronted a motorist who they believed had been drink-drinking on the Elgin to Lossiemouth road.
Elgin Sheriff Court heard that they spotted a car swerving onto the opposite side of the road at about 10pm on Friday, July 21.
Procurator fiscal Victoria Silver said: "It then turned its light off.
"The witnesses continued to follow it along Lossiemouth Road until it pulled in at a petrol station and came to a stop.
"They approached the vehicle and saw the accused. They told him he must be drunk, and he replied, 'uh-uh'."
Ms Silver added that the witnesses then took the car keys off the driver and called the police.
Officers took Gordon Collins, a self-employed plumber, to Elgin police station.
Here the 36-year-old was repeatedly asked to provide a sample of breath.
However he refused on three different occasions, leading to him being held in custody at the station overnight until he sobered up.
Collins, whose address was given as the Joppa area of Edinburgh, admitted a charge of failing to take a breath test and another of being drunk in charge of a vehicle.
Defence solicitor Martin O'Neill stated that the self-employed plumber didn't usually drink but had gone to the pub after having had a row on the phone with his girlfriend.
The lawyer said: "He realised he wasn't in a fit state to drive – that's why he pulled over when he could at the service station."
Mr O'Neill stated that his client would now have to work around the ban.
The lawyer added: "He will do the best he can to continue working."
Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood fined Collins £600, which he is set to pay £150 per month.
The defendant was also disqualified from driving for 16 months.
