Man found asleep in car with booze

A man was found asleep in his car, with two opened bottles of alcohol beside him, at a popular Perth riverside car park.

The headlights were on and the engine was running, Perth Sheriff Court was told.

When he was roused by police, he was suspected of being under the influence.

And tests revealed he had more than three times the legal limit of alcohol in his system.

Thirty-nine-year-old Jaroslaw Ignatiuk, of Dunsinane Drive, Perth, was fined £300 and banned for 12 months after he admitted being in charge of his car at the Norie-Miller car park, Riverside, Perth, on July 5, 2019, with excess alcohol.

His reading was 70 microgrammes, well in excess of the 22 limit.

The court heard that police received a call about the blue VW Passat about 9.30pm.

Depute fiscal Lisa Marshall said Ignatiuk failed a roadside breath test and was arrested.

He was taken to Perth Police HQ where the drink/driving procedure was carried out.

When cautioned and charged, he replied: “I was sleeping rather than driving.”

Solicitor Stuart Hamilton said his client had “fallen out” with his partner, having consumed some alcohol, earlier that evening.

He had held a licence for 20 years and had previously been banned for six months, under the totting up procedure, for having no licence.

He was not working at the moment but had a job lined up in a slaughterhouse.

He had been in custody since December 3, 2020, and asked the sheriff to take that into account.

Sheriff Neil Bowie said being drunk in charge did not attract an automatic disqualification.

But because of the reading - and his two nonanalagous road traffic offences, which had led to a ban, he was going to impose disqualification.

But if Ignatius satisfactorily completes a drink/ driving rehabilitation course, at his own expense, his time off the road will be cut by three months.

Because of the time he had spent in custody, the fine was restricted to £300, payable at £100 a month.