Co-op store staff alerted cops over Dingwall man who was five times drink-drive limit when stopped
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A Dingwall man was over five times the legal drink drive limit when he drove a short distance to buy more alcohol from a local store.
But staff at the Co-op in Old Evanton Road suspected 51-year-old Derek Smith was under the influence because he was unsteady on his feet.
When he got into his car, he mounted a pavement as he drove off and staff reported him to the police.
Smith of Tulloch Square, was stopped on August 16, this year and his subsequent breath test revealed a reading of 112mcgs of alcohol when the limit is 22mcgs.
He admitted drunk driving and was fined £420. He was also banned from driving for 18 months.
Defence solicitor Marc Dickson said his client had health and mobility issues and had recently lost his job.
"Alcohol has become problematic for him."
Sheriff Neil Kinnear told him: "Yours is an unusual and perplexing case. It is a very high reading and you could have done serious harm to yourself or someone else.
"But you have accepted the problems that you have got and I have taken that, your previous good character and clean driving licence into account."
