Drink-driver refused breath test

A drink-driver found slumped and unresponsive behind the wheel refused to take part in a breath test, claiming it might be confused by his cold medicine.

Shaun Brady’s car was stationary and straddling the middle of the road when motorists came upon it in the early hours of a Saturday morning in December.

Witnesses shouted at him, rapped on his window and eventually opened his door to shake him without eliciting any response.

He had awoken by the time police officers arrived. They found his eyes glazed and his speech slurred, and detected the strong smell of alcohol.

Perth Sheriff Court heard Brady had committed two very similar offences in a matter of months and had been banned from driving at the High Court in Glasgow in February.

Sheriff Gillian Wade told him his liberty was now in great danger.

She said: “You have a history of road traffic offences, so this is far from an isolated incident.

“In addition, you have a very recent analogous offence for which you have already been banned from the road.

“Repeat offenders often go to jail for this kind of offence and in your case a simple ban and fine may not be enough.”

Brady, 30, of Cardowan Street in Glasgow, admitted failing to provide two specimens of breath required to ascertain his ability to drive on the A977 Kinross to Kincardine Road on December 3 last year.