A father was almost twice the alcohol limit when he crashed his car driving back from a party with his five-year-old daughter.
The vehicle was badly damaged after it crashed through a fence and rolled into a field, before coming to rest on the carriageway.
Asked if he had been drinking, Andrew Murray claimed to have had “a nip of whisky” in the back of the ambulance while being taken to Borders General Hospital for treatment.
The 42-year-old, who is addressing an alcohol problem, sustained broken ribs, while his daughter had bruising to her pelvis, chest and shoulder.
Murray, of Kings Park, Choppington, Northumberland, was fined £510 and banned from the road for two years after he admitted driving on the A697 near Lauder on March 13 last year with a blood/alcohol reading of 159mgms – the legal limit being 80.
Depute procurator fiscal Tessa Bradley told how Murray had driven to his wife’s address, where he had lunch with his family, before leaving around 1pm to take his daughter to a party in Duns.
“At 4.45pm, as he drove north on the A697, his vehicle left the road and went over a grass verge and through a fence, rolling into a field and coming back to rest on the main carriageway,” explained Ms Bradley. “The car had significant damage and all the windows were smashed.”
Two ambulances attended, while passers-by stopped to assist. “Those who had stopped had concerns that he had been drinking, and passed those concerns to the paramedics and police,” continued Ms Bradley.
“It wasn’t possible to get a roadside breath test, as there was a fault with the machine,” she added.
Murray and his daughter were both taken to hospital for treatment, and when he arrived at the accident and emergency department, the accused was examined by a doctor, who also expressed concern over alcohol.
“He told police he was an alcoholic and he had a nip of whisky in the back of the ambulance, and had put the bottle in a bin outside A&E,” continued the prosecutor, adding: “He then changed his mind about where he had put the bottle, which wasn’t found.”
Ms Bradley said a sample was taken and a back-calculation led to the reading in the charge.
Murray’s solicitor said his client was a staff nurse for the prison service in the north of England, having pursued a nursing career for some 13 years. “He has made his best efforts to address difficulties with alcohol and has been sober now for 12 months,” he added.
Sheriff Kevin Drummond told Murray: “The dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol are well known for the dangers they represent to the public at large. The distressing fact in this case is that you were prepared to put your daughter at risk, and it is more by good luck that the consequences were not tragic.”
In imposing sentence, Sheriff Drummond said he took account of Murray’s unblemished driving record and the fact he had taken steps to address a pre-existing alcohol problem.