Mass litter pick drive

WEST Dunbartonshire residents are being urged to participate in a mass litter pick to tackle a ‘litter emergency’.

The annual Spring Clean Scotland initiative, organised by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful, runs until April 28.

Last year saw more than 30,000 Scots participate, equipping themselves with litter pickers, bags and gloves, and contributing positively to their neighbourhoods.

Barry Fisher, chief executive at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “We’re so excited about Spring Clean Scotland, and it would be fantastic for as many people as possible from

West Dunbartonshire to get involved.

“We know 85 per cent of people agree that they want to see more efforts to prevent litter in their area. It starts with us.

“No longer can we wait for someone else to pick up the litter we might walk past every day, so we are inviting everyone to organise a litter pick with friends, family, workmates or alone, or to join an event registered on our Clean Up Scotland map.

“Every action, however small, will help us reverse the litter emergency.”

More information about participation and events can be found at https://tinyurl. com/yauxdzm7.

A SHERIFF said the community “deserved better” from a man who was repeatedly driving under the influence.

Barry Drummond was pulled over during a routine check on December 21, 2022, in Hamilton Street, Clydebank.

He was found to have 3.4mg of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol per litre of blood when the limit is 2mg.

At the time, Drummond, of Acredyke Road, Glasgow, had no criminal record.

But it was in fact his third similar driving offence – he just hadn’t been convicted yet.

He only pleaded guilty to the 2022 Clydebank crime in January this year, which was blamed on the delays for toxicology tests.

The 40-year-old returned to

Dumbarton Sheriff Court on March 19 for sentencing.

Drummond’s defence solicitor said his client was disqualified from driving for 12 months over a March 9, 2022 incident, then 16 months for one on June 16 that year.

Sentences were imposed at Kilmarnock and Glasgow sheriff courts in those cases respectively.

The solicitor said Drummond was also put on a community payback order (CPO) last year for being concerned in the supply of cannabis.

Sheriff William Gallacher said: “In 2022, he was a hazard and liability on the road.”

The defence lawyer said his client would be allowed to retain his job despite the driving ban.

“He appears to be regarded as a good employee,” said the solicitor. “He appears to be engaging fully with the CPO.

“Clearly he has not been a good judge of this - he had used cannabis the night before and felt okay to drive. Clearly he was not.”

The lawyer again raised that Drummond had no previous convictions at the time of the December 21 crime.

“But he ought to have had,” said the sheriff, “and he ought to have had before he drove on the next occasion and he ought to have had on the next occasion.”

Sheriff Gallacher said what caused him concern was Drummond was stopped by police in

March 2022.

And knowing what he had done, he did the same again that June, and then again in December.

“Had I found all these matters on one [criminal] complaint, I would have been sending you to prison to protect the public,” he told Drummond.

Instead, he imposed another CPO with 140 hours of unpaid work in the community to be finished in the next year.

This is a direct alternative to custody.

He was disqualified from driving for 20 months.

“If you are involved in driving under the influence, you will be going to prison,” said the sheriff.

“The community deserve better from you.”