Bottle of lager and jar of gherkins blamed for alcohol reading

A Fife man claimed one bottle of lager and a jar of pickled gherkins left him almost three times over the drink-drive limit.

Marcel Furtuna, of Primrose Avenue, Rosyth, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court accompanied by a translator.

The 56 year-old, originally from Romania, claimed he only drank one bottle of lager in a pub but also downed a jar of pickled gherkins.

However, when breathalysed he was almost three times over the limit.

He admitted that on June 1 in Queensferry Road, Rosyth, and elsewhere, he drove after consuming excess alcohol.

His reading was 59 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

The legal limit is set at 22 microgrammes.

Solicitor Ian Beatson said his client had been in the UK for five years and came to Scotland a year ago after working in Surrey.

He works at the Marine Harvest fish-processing factory in Rosyth.

“He says he wasn’t aware, although he should have been, of the drink-driving limit in Scotland,” Mr Beatson said.

His client had been at a bookmaker’s shop, played bingo, and then went to a pub after hearing music coming from it.

He said in the bar his client only had one bottle of Peroni.

However, Sheriff Craig McSherry said it was “within judicial knowledge” that one small bottle of the lager would not result in such a high reading.

“I think he had a few more than that,” added the sheriff.

Mr Beatson said, “I don’t know if I’m helping his case but he did eat a full jar of gherkins as well.”

“What? With white wine vinegar?” asked the sheriff.

He fined Furtuna £500 and banned him from driving for a year.

He did eat a full jar of gherkins as well. IAN BEATSON