Drink-driver on `cusp’ of going to jail
A banned motorist who drove his car in Stirling while five times over the drink-driving limit escaped a jail term last week.
Gary Crossan had driven in Melville Terrace on August 3 this year while the proportion of alcohol in his breath was 110mg in 100ml of breath. The limit being 22mg.
The 41-year-old had originally faced a charge of driving with 131mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath but admitted an amended charge. He had been on bail at the time.
Crossan also pleaded to driving while disqualified in Melville Terrace on the same date while on bail and driving without insurance and an MoT test certificate.
Not guilty pleas to charges of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at the Family Mediation Centre in Melville Terrace that day, and failing to give details of the driver of a vehicle involved in a contravention of the Road Traffic Act, both while on bail, were accepted.
Sheriff Simon Collins told Stirling Sheriff Court on Tuesday: “Excessive consumption of alcohol is the problem here.” He was “satisfied, just, that a non-custodial disposal was available”.
He added however that Crossan had to be very clear, “he is absolutely on the cusp here.”
Sheriff Collins also stressed: “If he gets behind the wheel of a car, most certainly if he is under the influence of alcohol, he will be going to prison.”
On the driving while disqualified charge he sentenced Crossan to 120 hours’ unpaid work to be carried out within nine months.
Crossan, of Johnston Court, Falkirk, was also sentenced to 140 hours’ on the charge of drink-driving as well as two years’ supervision. He was also disqualified from driving for five years from August 7 this year. These charges were imposed as an alternative to custody. A community payback order review was set for March 18. He was admonished on the charges of driving without insurance and an MoT.
Sheriff Collins refused a Crown motion for the forfeiture of Crossan’s car which the court heard was worth £6000.
He said he was mindful that forfeiture of the vehicle would be a substantial penalty. Crossan’s lawyer pointed out that if the vehicle was returned to her client he would sell it.
Sheriff Collins imposed a fine of £300 on a charge of breaching bail on August 7 this year in a separate complaint.
The fine, he said, was payable within 28 days which would give Crossan time to sell the vehicle and pay the sum. House prices in Stirling are rising faster than the national average.
The latest figures from HM Land Registry show that house prices are up 4.8 per cent on the previous October, outpacing the 4.4 per cent Scottish average and well surpassing the UK average of 2.7 per cent.
On average, homeowners in Stirling will have seen the prices of their property raise by £14,219.
The price of detached houses has grown from £289,111 in November 2017 to £314,685, a 5.3 per cent boost of £25,574.
Semi-detached houses have risen 5.8 per cent in value, and flats have shot up by a 3.2 per cent in total.
As a whole, the average price of a Scottish property rose by £6,666.
The data comes from the House Price Index, which compiles house pricing information from the Land Registry and equivelant bodies in Scotland (The Land Register of Scotland) and Northern Ireland.
Figures released in October also indicated that all but four local authorities in Scotland are seeing year-on-year price increases.
However, there are fears that the current uncertainty surrounding Brexit will affect the price of houses going forward.
The Bank of England has already warned that a‘no-deal’Brexit would see the average cost of houses plummet by up to 35 per cent.
Research by Savills UK in September noted that prices in Scotland were not as affected as the rest of the UK by Brexit uncertainty, as the markets are more confident.