Sheriff praises teacher as he bans and fines her £350 for drinking and driving
THE way an island primary school teacher conducted herself after being caught drink-driving has been commended by a sheriff.
Eilidh Marion Campbell, aged 30, of Benview, Kilmoluaig, Tiree, pled guilty at the first available opportunity to the drink driving charge. She had a breath reading of 85 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath when the limit in Scotland is 22. She appeared before Oban Sheriff Court on Tuesday.
The offence took place on November 10 on the B8068, a half-mile north of Scarinish on the island.
Her car had been involved in a minor collision with another vehicle at a passing place on the single-track road.
She had pulled away too early while the other car was still passing.
‘Witnesses noticed that her speech was slurred and there was a smell of alcohol,’ said procurator fiscal Eoin McGinty.
There was no mobile phone signal at the spot where the collision happened and the witnesses drove on to find a signal and report the incident and Campbell drove home, where she was seen later that evening by a police officer.
From her first interview with the police Campbell admitted the offence and co-operated fully, her defence agent, Jane MacLeod, said.
Mrs MacLeod said: ‘She told me, “I don’t want to try and wriggle out of this”. She is utterly, utterly, disgusted by her own behaviour and has accepted full responsibility from the beginning.
‘She has been genuine in her remorse.’
Mrs MacLeod added that the whole episode had been one of embarrassment and shame for her client.
Campbell, who teaches at the island’s primary school, had no previous convictions and a clean licence.
Sheriff Patrick Hughes told her: ‘Your attitude towards this has been a great credit to you, taking responsibility for this from the outset.’
He fined her £350 and imposed a 12-month driving ban but said she was eligible to attend a driver rehabilitation course. The course, if completed, allows up to a 25 per cent reduction in the driving ban.