School janitor banned from driving

A drink-driving Aberdeenshire school janitor has been banned from the road and hit with a fine.

Alan MacMillan was seen swerving across the A96 by an alarmed member of the public, who alerted police.

Officers located the 42-year-old on the Inverurie to Huntly road near the junction with the unclassified Harlaw road.

MacMillan previously pled guilty to driving with 74 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 22mcg.

Sentence had been deferred for reports and the court heard MacMillan was likely to lose his job as a result of the conviction.

MacMillan has now returned to court to be sentenced, but it is understood he is still awaiting a hearing to determine whether or not he will be sacked.

Sheriff Eric Brown handed MacMillan, of Hillside Avenue, Dufftown, a £520 fine and banned him from driving for a year.

At the earlier hearing, fiscal depute Emma Petersen told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the incident happened at 3pm on April 30.

She said police were approached by a member of the public who raised concerns about MacMillan’s vehicle “swerving across the carriageway” on the A96 near Thainstone.

Officers located the car still travelling north of Inverurie. They saw the car swerving and pulled it over.

An “odour of alcohol coming from the accused’s breath” was detected and a test returned a positive reading for alcohol.

Defence solicitor Peter Keene said: “He was employed but he reckons for not very much longer. He is a senior janitor for Aberdeenshire Council, covering seven schools in rural areas.”