A man convicted of drink-driving for the seventh time has been spared a prison sentence after a sheriff told him he couldn’t jail him for long enough.
Sheriff John Rafferty said such were his sentencing powers the maximum term he could impose on Thomas Cassidy was one of six months, which would have to be reduced to four months to reflect his guilty plea.
As a result, he said: “Imposing a custodial sentence would serve to punish you a little but would achieve nothing else.”
Instead, he imposed a community payback order under supervision with unpaid work, a restriction of liberty order and disqualified him from driving again.
Fiscal depute Lynne Mannion told the court police saw Cassidy’s vehicle “swaying between one carriageway onto another” at 1am on Kingsway West.
Officers stopped him and he smelled strongly of alcohol and was slurring his words, she added. A roadside breath test proved positive.
Solicitor Ian Houston said Cassidy had taken a “calculated risk” in driving after a family gathering and he had to be back for work in Dundee.
He said his last conviction in 2013 had resulted in a custodial sentence, but said Cassidy had had a change in lifestyle, his partner was pregnant, he was in full time employment and his partner had two disabled children.
A custodial sentence would have a detrimental effect on his partner, as she relied on him to provide care for the children.
The car had been provided by the mobility scheme, he told the court, and his partner was the only person insured to drive it.
Cassidy, 31, of Longtown Road, admitted that on March 30, on the A90 Kingsway West, he drove with excess alcohol (70 mics), more than three times the limit. He also admitted driving without insurance on the same date at the same place.
Sheriff Rafferty placed him on a community payback order with supervision for 18 months, a restriction of liberty order for six months between the hours of 7.30pm-6.30am and disqualified him from driving for four years.
He said: “If the order is breached you will go to jail. You must understand you are being given a chance to turn your lifestyle around and move away from the horrendous record you have acquired.”
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