A DRIVER who got into his car after drinking an “astronomical amount” of alcohol and somehow managed to make it 80 miles to Dumbarton has been slammed for his “appalling” behaviour.
Lorne Ferguson was caught after his car ploughed into another vehicle near the Lomondgate roundabout on the A82.
He tried to drive off in his damaged car before being stopped by police.
Ferguson insisted he had done nothing wrong and claimed he was being harassed by officers – but then supplied a breath sample which was more than seven times the legal limit.
Dumbarton Sheriff Court heard on January 28 that Ferguson, 38, had been on an all-night bender before getting into his car and setting off from his home in Kilmore, near Oban, on October 30.
After somehow making it to Dumbarton, Ferguson was heading southbound on the A82 at around 3.45pm when he ploughed into the rear of another vehicle.
The procurator fiscal depute told the hearing: “The witness moved into lane two and observed a red light and stopped her vehicle.
“She then observed a vehicle in her rear mirror travelling at speed towards her; it collided with her vehicle, shunting her forward. She was not injured.
“The accused was the sole occupant of the vehicle and appeared heavily intoxicated, struggling with slurred speech and glazed eyes.
“He became instantly hostile towards the witness, blaming her for the collision.
“Police were contacted, and the accused then reversed backwards before driving forward, moving into the first lane past the witness.
“The airbags in his vehicle deployed and the car’s exhaust came loose, dragging along the ground. The bonnet was also creased.”
Ferguson was said to have driven further along the A82 while straddling two lanes, and nearly collided with another vehicle.
He then stopped at a roundabout where police approached him.
The fiscal depute continued: “They observed him quite heavily intoxicated.
“He stated he was out on a leisurely drive, had done nothing wrong and was being harassed by police.”
Officers found a lockback knife in Ferguson’s back pocket, which he claimed he used in his work as a stonemason.
Two bottles of empty vodka and one half full bottle were also discovered inside his car.
Ferguson was arrested after providing a breath sample with a reading of 157 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The limit in Scotland is 22 microgrammes.
Stephen McGuire, defending, said:“He had driven a significant distance before the collision took place; that in itself seems remarkable.
“He was fortunate there were not more serious consequences for him and others.”
Referencing a criminal justice social work report prepared for the sentencing hearing, in which Ferguson claimed he did not feel under the influence before setting off on the car journey, Sheriff John Hamilton said: “How could he have been seven times the limit 80 miles away and not feel under the influence?
“If that’s the case then he is a significant risk to the public, a significant risk to himself and the public.”
Sheriff Hamilton ordered Ferguson to do 300 hours of unpaid work – the maximum allowed – within 18 months as an alternative to prison.
He was also banned from holding or obtaining a licence for five years on each of the two charges against him – bans which will run consecutively.
The sheriff told him: “This was an appalling piece of driving in the circumstances and the level [of the reading] was inexplicable.”
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