CAMPBELTOWN SHERIFF COURT

Hotel row man fined

A Crianlarich man threw bottles during an argument at a Kintyre hotel, a Campbeltown court heard. Sentence was deferred, for reports, at an earlier hearing when Alexander Richard Gordon Bell, 28, of Laurelbank Hotel, Crianlarich, pleaded guilty to two charges of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner during an incident on July 17. Social work reports about Bell were positive and he was fined £150 on each charge.

Disqualified after police office visit

A driver made enquiries at Campbeltown police office while smelling of alcohol. On October 9, Alexander Sheridan, 77, of 49 Millburn Crescent, Armadale, asked officers about possible road closures on the A83. Police officers smelt alcohol on his breath and Sheridan was stopped as he drove away. He was found to be over the drink drive limit, with 33 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath while the limit is 22mgs. He was charged and told officers he had had about half a bottle of whisky the previous night but took his last drink at 11.45pm. Sheriff Patrick Hughes disqualified Sheridan, who pleaded guilty, for 12 months and told him that if he completed the drink drivers’ rehabilitation programme, the ban would be reduced by three months. Sheridan was also fined £250.

Troublemaking teenager tagged

An 18-year-old man was warned by a Campbeltown sheriff that his drinking was becoming ‘intolerable to the community’. At a recent hearing, John Townsley, of 20 Glenside, was sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work and ordered to wear an electronic tag for eight months forcing him to remain at home by restricting his liberty between 8pm and 5am. Townsley had previously admitted four charges, two of assaulting police officers on December 6 last year and, while on bail for the first two offences, he caused malicious damage by punching a car on May 27, on July 4 he was abusive when striking a door and he behaved in a threatening and abusive manner on August 16. Sheriff Patrick Hughes said: ‘You drink to excess and cause a lot of pain and suffering to other people. You could have received a sentence of more than a year for these offences. ‘This is the last time you will appear in this court and not leave in handcuffs.’

Jura driver disqualified

When police officers stopped a hatchback that was swerving across a Jura road, they found the woman driver heavily intoxicated. Margaret Boyle, 67, of Knockrome, had been to Jura Festival on September 22 and was driving ‘very slowly’ in front of officers at 10.40pm. Due to the location, a ferry was called and Boyle was taken to an Islay police office, where she was found to be four-and-a-half times over the drink drive limit. Sheriff Hughes disqualified Boyle, who had pleaded guilty, for 12 months and fined her £320.

Driver banned

‘I don’t stop for blue lights,’ an East Kilbride van driver told police officers, who suspected he had been drink driving. Self-employed plumber Raymond Allison, 31, of 4 Dalmellington Drive, was spotted driving erratically on the A83 in Campbeltown on January 20. He drove to the accommodation blocks at the MACC base and was found by officers nearby after leaving his van. Allison did not appear at an earlier hearing in February, was arrested on a warrant and pleaded guilty to a charge of driving while double the drink drive limit. His plea of not guilty to a further charge of driving without due care and attention was accepted. Sheriff Hughes fined Allison £250 for his failure to appear and £350 with a 12-month ban for drink driving.