Drink-driver mounted pavement

A 21-year-old man has been banned for driving for 16 months after he was drinking on a night out then drove to a friend’s house in Perthshire, where he mounted the pavement in his car.

Ashton Aitken, Gauldry Terrace, Dundee, pled guilty to being three times over the legal limit.

Perth Sheriff Court heard he had driven to Glencarse at 4.50am on July 1 and asked a friend to fetch his parents. His car mounted the pavement and was left sitting at a right angle to the road, with the rear wheels hanging off the kerb.

The court was told Aitken – who was described as struggling with depression after undergoing gender reassignment therapy – had been out with friends at a concert.

He was fined £750 and was told he would have to resit his test after serving the ban.

The court heard excellent character references had been provided by Aitken’s employer, and that he had recently been placed in the top three Scottish students in a recent SCVQ assessment.

Sentencing him, Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said: “The references I have relating to you are very praiseworthy.

“You have to appreciate, however, that the matter for which you have accepted your guilt involved you getting in a car when the alcohol in your system is above a certain limit and that is a very serious issue with regards to road safety.”