Court / Drink drivers in the dock

THREE motorists admitted drink driving offences at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday.

Cheryl Brolly, 63, of Arheim in Lerwick, pleaded guilty to driving with 77 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath on 29 April.

The legal limit is 22 microgrammes.

Brolly was breathalysed by police after she stopped for chips at 5.30pm near a Lerwick takeaway. Police saw her car and were concerned as she had been arrested for a similar offence the previous week – that incident is yet to come to court.

CCTV evidence from the chip shop and enquiries by the police made it clear that Brolly had driven to the takeaway.

Tommy Allan, defending, said that Brolly was under considerable strain at the time. She was going through a divorce and was looking after her elderly father and had gone in the car to fetch him a meal.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank considered an analogous conviction from 2012 before giving her the minimum sentence of a three-year driving ban and a fine of £500 to reflect her early plea.

Mathew Adam, 27, of South Voe, Papil, admitted driving with 106 milligrammes of alcohol in 100ml of blood on 2 December last year.

The legal limit is 50 milligrammes of alcohol.

The court heard that a taxi driver saw Adam standing beside his car which was off the road on the Black Gaet at 6.30am.

Concerned for his safety, the driver took him to hospital and then contacted the police, who took a blood sample from him at the hospital.

Defence agent Tommy Allan said that the offence had been committed at a “low point” in Adam’s life. He was about to start a new job and had turned things around, Allan added.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank fined him £400 and banned him from driving for the minimum period of a year with the option to cut his ban by a quarter if he completes a drink driving rehabilitation course.

Meanwhile, driving on the South Road in Lerwick with excess alcohol in his system cost Daniel McGonagle a 16 month ban and a fine of £600.

The court heard that police had been concerned by McGonagle’s driving when they say him around 9.30pm on 30 December last year. He failed the roadside test and was taken to the police station for a blood sample.

McGonagle, 26, of Cunningsburgh, admitted driving with 165 milligrammes of alcohol in 100ml of blood.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank gave McGonagle the opportunity to reduce his ban by a quarter by undertaking the drink driving rehabilitation course.