Drink-driver clipped cyclist before losing control and crashing

COURT: Told good Samaritans he drank a bottle of vodka after the accident

A three-time drink driver who clipped a cyclist before smashing his car has avoided jail.

Lee Godfrey was almost four times the drink-drive limit when he hit the mountain-biker on a road between Letham and Forfar – minutes before the shocked cyclist and an off-duty police friend came to the 34-year-old’s aid after the offshore worker’s Kia SUV ploughed off the road.

Godfrey tried to claim to the Good Samaritans he had downed a bottle of vodka in the immediate aftermath of the crash because he was in shock.

At Forfar Sheriff Court, Godfrey’s solicitor said his client realised he was at risk of a prison term after two drink-drive offences three years apart in his younger days.

Godfrey, of Bradbury Street, Dundee, pleaded guilty to driving dangerously on August 1 last year on the unclassified Dunnichen to Burnside road and colliding with a cyclist before injuring his passenger in a crash and of driving with excess alcohol, 85 micro- grammes against a legal limit of 22.

The court heard Godfrey had been reported as a possible drink-driver by witnesses in Forfar around 2pm that Saturday, shortly before he and friend Greg Milne drove to Letham Hotel.

The accused drank a lager tops at the village pub before ordering a round of jagerbomb shots.

On leaving the pub Godfrey was heard to say he would be driving to Forfar and then Dundee, but on the narrow road near the village he came upon the two cyclists and clipped one with the nearside wing mirror.

Passenger Milne described the accused as “panicking” and as they turned into a left hand bend he realised Godfrey was not going to make the corner. The car struck two gates and a fence before coming to rest on its side.

Solicitor Nick Markowski said: “He had been drinking on Friday night, got up on Saturday and met up with Mr Milne and agreed to go for a pub lunch in Letham, but no food was consumed.

“It was the first time he had been on that road and he has very limited recollection of anything other than waking up in the police station.”

Sheriff Pino Di Emidio imposed a one-year community payback order, including supervision and 190 hours of unpaid work.

Godfrey was also disqualified for 42 months and must sit an extended driving test.

Hehadbeen drinking on Friday night, got up on Saturday and met up with Mr Milne and agreed to go for a pub lunch in Letham, but no food was consumed. NICK MARKOWSKI SOLICITOR