A three-time drink driver who clipped a cyclist before smashing his car in a Jagerbomb-fuelled country road crash has narrowly escaped jail.
Lee Godfrey was almost four times the drink-drive limit when he hit the mountain-biker on a back road between Letham and Forfar – minutes before the shocked cyclist and an off-duty police pal came to the 34-year-old’s aid after the offshore worker’s Kia Sportage SUV ploughed off the road before coming to rest on its side.
Godfrey even tried to claim to the Good Samaritans that he had downed a bottle of vodka in the immediate aftermath of the crash because he was in shock in an attempt to explain the high breath alcohol reading he would register at Arbroath police office.
At Forfar sheriff court, Godfrey’s solicitor said his client realised he was at risk of a prison term after two drink-drive offences three years apart in his younger day.
Godfrey, of Bradbury Street, Dundee pleaded guilty to charges of driving dangerously on August 1 last year on the unclassified Dunnichen to Burnside road and colliding with a cyclist before injuring his passenger in a crash; and driving with excess alcohol, 85 microgrammes against a legal limit of 22.
The court heard Godfrey had initially been reported as a possible drink-driver by witnesses in Forfar around 2pm that Saturday, shortly before he and friend Greg Milne drove to Letham Hotel.
The accused drank a lager tops at the village pub before ordering a round of jagerbomb shots. He downed one, and when Milne decided not to have his Godfrey drank that as well, the court was told.
On leaving the pub Godfrey was heard to say he would be driving to Forfar and then Dundee, but on the narrow road near the village he came upon the two cyclists and clipped one with the nearside wing mirror.
Passenger Milne described the accused as “panicking” and as they turned into a left hand bend he realised Godfrey was not going to make the corner. The car struck two gates and a fence before coming to rest on its side with the airbags deployed.
Solicitor Nick Markowski said Godfrey realised the seriousness of his position in light of previous drink-driving convictions in 2004 and 2007.
“He had been drinking on Friday night, got up on Saturday and met up with Mr Milne and agreed to go for a pub lunch in Letham, but no food was consumed,” said the lawyer.
“It was the first time he had been on that road and he has very limited recollection of anything other than waking up in the police station.”
He said Godfrey was well regarded by his employers and had a responsible and well-paid position offshore.
“He wrote a letter of apology to the cyclist and is embarrassed and ashamed by this,” added Mr Markowski.
Sheriff Pino Di Emidio told Godfrey: “It is plain your life has changed significantly and you have, in many ways, become a very productive member of society.
“Nevertheless, on this particular occasion it is perhaps more good fortune than anything else that more serious injuries were not caused.”
The sheriff imposed a one-year Community Payback Order, including supervision and 190 hours of unpaid work. Godfrey was also disqualified for 42 months and must sit an extended driving test at the conclusion of the ban.
