Broadcaster Naughtie caught drink-driving
Here is the news (that BBC didn’t want you to read)...
HE is the retired BBC Radio 4 news anchor who once told an interviewer he preferred drinking wine to beer, adding: ‘French red is my weakness.’
Now James Naughtie’s words have proved prescient, as he has just been banned from the road after being caught drink-driving.
The 69-year-old Scot was spotted getting behind the wheel of his car and driving off after popping in for a drink at an Edinburgh bar.
Staff from Bennets Bar, in the city’s upmarket Morningside area, tipped off police and the awardwinning journalist was traced to his home nearby a short time later.
A subsequent test showed he had 35mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath – which is the legal limit in England, but not in Scotland, where it is just 22mg of alcohol. Naughtie, who left Radio 4’s Today show in 2015 after 21 years to take on a role as special correspondent, appeared in the dock at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday where he pleaded guilty to driving while over the limit.
He was fined £500 and banned from driving for 12 months for the offence, which took place on October 20, 2019.
Prosecutor Ross Price told the court: ‘Around 3pm, the accused left Bennets Bar and a member of staff saw him getting into his vehicle and called police. Officers made inquiries and attended at the accused’s home address at 3.17pm and breathalysed him.’
Naughtie’s solicitor said his client had been driving home and decided to stop off at the pub ‘for one glass of wine’.
The lawyer added that the broadcaster, who gave a London home address in court, had only driven ‘a relatively short distance’ and had co-operated with police.
Mr Naughtie has been given the option of taking part in a drinkdrive rehabilitation scheme which if passed would see his driving ban cut by three months.
The father of three is reported to have earned £175,000 last year from the BBC. The corporation said his earnings could not be quantified entirely by the amount of time he spent on air in the previous 12 months, estimated at 23 hours.
It claimed he did much of his work ‘behind the scenes’, as well as for the BBC World Service.
A BBC spokesman confirmed that Mr Naughtie’s job title remained ‘special correspondent’ but declined to comment on the court case.