A Perth pensioner caught drink-driving after meeting friends for a game of dominoes may have been shopped by one of his drinking buddies, a sheriff has suggested.
Dennis Hogg, 78, was one-and-a-half times the legal limit when he was pulled over by officers acting on an anonymous tip-off.
The pensioner told them he just had two pints, wrongly believing that was the permitted amount.
He appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted driving his Kia Picanto along several streets between Hospital Street and Whitefriars Crescent while under the influence on August 16.
Sheriff Craig McSherry told him: “It seems that someone inside the pub was perhaps not a friend of yours.”
Hogg replied: “I’ve asked myself this as well. We’ve had that conversation in the pub.”
Car followed by CCTV
Fiscal depute Sam Craib told the court: “At about 3pm, police received an anonymous call stating that the accused was driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
“Officers made efforts to trace the accused and CCTV cameras were used to monitor the movement of the offending vehicle.”
The fiscal depute said Hogg was pulled over on Whitefriars Crescent.
“The accused stated he had just been in the pub with friends, where he had consumed two pints of alcohol prior to driving.”
Hogg, of South Inch Court, was breathalysed and found to have excess alcohol (33mics/ 22) in his system.
Total mistake
Representing himself in the dock, he said: “I am a 78-year-old pensioner with a restricted social life.
“I always go on a Tuesday for a game of dominoes with my old aged pensioner friends.
“I never have more than two pints and I only go to the one pub.”
He added: “I understood that two pints was the limit.
“I thought the legal amount was 35 microgrammes and that was a total mistake on my part.
“If I had known I was over the limit I would have never got into that car.”
Hogg said he had suffered anxiety about coming to court.
“It’s worse than having a cancer operation,” he said.
He was banned from driving for a year and fined £400.
The legal limit in Scotland used to be 35 mics but this was reduced as part of tough new legislation introduced in 2014.
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