Balvicar motorist fined £500

A BALVICAR man lost his driving licence after he admitted drink- driving on June 6 this year on the B844 south of Kilninver.

Roderick McDonald, 49, of 2 Clachan Dubh Cottage, was banned at Oban Sheriff Court last week after he was found to be nine microgrammes over the legal drink- drive limit.

Procurator fiscal Eoin McGinty said a passing motorist found McDonald’s BMW crashed in a ditch and extensively damaged. The driver checked the vehicle, found no one but saw that the airbags had been deployed and called the police. He later passed McDonald walking home and offered him a lift, but he declined saying a friend was on the way.

The following morning McDonald went to Oban Police Station and reported that he had crashed his car. When breathalysed he gave a reading of 31 mcg alcohol in 100ml breath; the legal limit is 22.

Sheriff Ruth Anderson said: ‘ He waited, but he didn’t wait long enough.’

McDonald’s defence agent said: ‘He accepts he was drinking the night before.’

McDonald was fined £ 500 and disqualified from driving for a year.