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By Dave Lord
A PERTH man caught drink-driving the morning after a boozy night out claimed he was “set up” by a boss determined to fire him.
George Moffat was called in to work as a delivery driver unexpectedly in the early hours of the morning—but was promptly stopped by police following an “anonymous” tip off.
Moffat said only he and his boss knew he was driving at the time and claimed his employer had been “engineering his removal from the company” for some time.
The 42-year-old, of Rannoch Road, admitted driving with excess alcohol (80 mics—the legal limit is 35) on January 3.
Depute fiscal Helen Nisbet said police had received a call at about 7am on the day in question.
They stopped Moffat and the offence came to light.
Solicitor John McLaughlin said Moffat had been looking forward to a day off when his boss called him in.
“Until the day in question Mr Moffat had been employed as a delivery driver,” he told Perth Sheriff Court.
“On January 2 he was out and about enjoying himself and was not due to work on the third.
“However, at about 6am on the third he received a call from his employer asking if he could take on a shift that day.
“He confirmed he would work and only two people knew about it—himself and his employer.
“As such Mr Moffat formed a view that the ‘anonymous’ tip off had come from his employer.”
Mr McLaughlin said Moffat had been suspicious for some time.
“He had suspicions prior to this as he had been stopped and breathalysed three times before following anonymous tips,” he said.
“On each occasion the tests had proved negative.
“His employer seemed to be engineering his removal from the company.”
Mr McLaughlin said Moffat accepted the reading was “high” and that a period of disqualification was inevitable.
“He never intended to drive on that day and obviously he very much regrets it,” the solicitor added.
The court was told that efforts by Moffat to find alternative employment had so far proved fruitless.
Sheriff Michael Fletcher banned Moffat from driving for 18 months and fined him £600.
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