Drunk hairdresser took police on wild city chase
A DRINK-DRIVING hairdresser who led police on a wild goose chase through the city’s streets has been banned from the roads.
At Glasgow Sheriff Court, Gordon King admitted getting behind the wheel of a car with 43 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – the legal limit being 22mg – on June 13 this year.
When a constable activated their police vehicle’s blue light to get the 57-year-old to pull over in Bell Street, King drove off at excessive speed to avoid being apprehended.
He then drove dangerously along a number of roads.
On the High Street, near Glasgow Cross, he did a 360 degree turn at times against the flow of traffic.
He also ran a number of red lights; in East Campbell Street at the junction with Gallowgate, in Bellgrove Street at the junction with Gallowgate, in Duke Street at the junction of John Knox Street and again at the junction of High Street, and in the High Street at the junction of Ingram Street.
After driving into Graham Square’s dead end, King rammed the police car and then drove off at speed after mounting a pedestrian footpath. He also pleaded guilty to driving the wrong way along Barrack Street and failing to comply with a no entry sign in Walls Street.
The defence agent presented a medical report that explained King suffers from anxiety, depression and claustrophobia.
The incident, described as “entirely out of character”, was put down to sheer panic when the accused became aware the police were on to him. The lawyer noted that King should have just stopped.
The sheriff told King, of Bridgegate, that it was an “appalling episode of driving”. He was sentenced to a CPO with 150 hours of unpaid work. He was also disqualified from driving for three years and must sit the extended test to get his licence back.