Payback, £500 fine and big ban for drink-driver

A drink-driver was caught three times over the limit with a wee boy sitting beside him.

Mark Bradley, 33, has been banned from the road for four and a half years.

He got behind the wheel after downing cans – without insurance or a valid licence.

Bradley admitted boozing before getting in his car at Paisley Sheriff Court.

Defence lawyer Bob Kerr told how his client had forgotten to apply for a new licence and had not kept up valid cover.

He said: “He had gone to his mum’s and then was dropping the boy off at Beavers.

“He had been given some bad news a bout his grandmother. “He sat and drank three cans. “He was going to be late, so he took the decision to drive.

“The insurance had been put in place, but payments had not been kept up.”

The court heard Bradley had already broken road laws by driving without insurance and after boozing.

He had previously been rapped twice for taking to the road with no cover.

His blue Nissan Note hatchback was stopped by police in Renfrew Road, Renfrew, on February 23.

Bradley blew a test reading of 66 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath – the limit is just 22.

Bradley was ordered to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work in 10 months.

Sheriff Colin Pettigrew blasted the motorist for putting lives at risk and disqualified him. He said: “This was a stupid act. “You were drink-driving at three times the legal limit with a child in the car on the way back from Beavers.

“You now have two drink-driving charges in five years.

“It’s concerning to hear that you did not keep your insurance payments up.

“This is not your first sentence, but your third for driving without it.

“The period of disqualification has to be a significant one.”

Bradley, of Ibrox, Glasgow, was also fined £500.