Four-times-the-limit drink-driver had empty bottles in car

The drunk driver who was stopped by police had empty bottles of wine and spirits in his car, the court heard.

Alan McIntyre was more than four times the DUI limit when cops stopped him in Inverness.

His lawyer said his lifestyle “went a little spiral” after the breakup.

McIntyre, 45, was convicted in Inverness Sheriff’s Court after pleading one DUI charge in connection with the April 19 incident last year.

Deputy Accountant Emma McEwan told the court that McIntyre’s car came to the attention of police on Culloden Road around 5:30 p.m.

“Strong alcohol smell”

He pulled up in the Simpsons Garden Center parking lot and police noticed his red, lustrous eyes and slurred speech. He smelled strongly of alcohol.

They also mentioned “numerous plastic bags with empty bottles of alcohol, wine and spirits.”

When McIntyre had to undergo a roadside breath test, he told officers that he had been drinking alcohol heavily in the past two days.

He failed the test, and subsequent tests revealed his breath alcohol concentration to be 105 micrograms per 100 milliliters of breath, the legal limit of 22.

McIntyre’s attorney, Attorney David Patterson, told the court that his client was going through “a particularly difficult time in his life” at the time of the crime.

Drunk drivers ‘poor decision-making’

he said:

Mr. Patterson explains: He drank too much and was a mess.

“He’s so ashamed of himself. It’s no surprise.”

Sheriff Elid MacDonald has ordered McIntyre of Lower Hempriggs, County Kinross, banned from driving for 19 months and to complete 100 hours of unpaid work in the community.

she said: Drunk driving is always dangerous, and the more drunk you get, the more dangerous it gets.

“We should be grateful that nothing happened except the police stopped us.”