OAP’ s driving so bad witness feared a medical incident

An Aberdeen excabbie’s driving was so bad that concerned witnesses thought he was having a heart attack at the wheel.

Frank Price had denied four charges but was found guilty following a trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.

The 70-year-old – who chose to defend himself without the aid of a solicitor – questioned witnesses in sometimes testy courtroom scenes and referred to Sheriff Lesley Johnston as “dear” throughout.

Sheriff Johnston had to repeatedly warn him not to be disrespectful and at one point Price was heard to mutter: “I think I should have got a solicitor.”

Taking to the witness stand, Elsa McLeod, 47, told the court Price had pulled out in front of her from Byron Avenue on to Provost Fraser Drive around 6.30pm on August 7 2022.

As she drove behind him, Ms McLeod described seeing him “swerve” and “mount the pavement” repeatedly, as well as crossing on to the wrong side of the road.

She told the court: “I said to my passenger, because I realised it was an elderly gentleman, that something could have gone wrong so I followed him and phoned the police.

“I was a bit concerned, at that point, that something had happened to him.”

Ms McLeod followed Price to the bottom of Springhill Road where he bumped into the back of another car at a red light.

When she pulled up next to the cars, the woman described seeing Price stumbling about, before approaching her and saying: “Do you not think I’m f ****** capable of driving like?”

She added: “He was stinking of booze.”

Price then got back in his car and Ms McLeod followed him to the shops at Woodend where he stalled and struggled to restart the vehicle before eventually driving back home. He then stopped “dramatically” outside his address on Byron Avenue and walked inside.

Ms McLeod said: “He could barely walk. The police came just as he went into his house.”

Evidence was also given by two police officers who spoke of finding Price in his address and said he refused to comply with an initial breath test or confirm that he was the driver of the car.

They said that Price did eventually provide the breath samples at the station and he was more than three times the limit.

Taking to the witness stand himself, Price told the court: “I was sitting in the house watching TV. There was a football match away to come on.

“I went down to the shops to have a bet and get some whisky and beer and cigarettes and went home.

“I hadn’t had a drink before that, until the time I got back from the shops.”

Asked by the sheriff what his position was on the allegation of drink-driving, he replied: “Not guilty. It’s nae my style.”

Sheriff Johnston found Price, of Byron Avenue, Aberdeen, guilty of dangerous driving and driving with 78 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 22 microgrammes.

She also found him guilty of failing to comply with a preliminary breath test and failing to disclose to police the identity of the driver.

Sentence was deferred for reports and Price was disqualified in the interim.

COURT: Aberdeen man Frank Price, 70, was found guilty of drink-driving.