A Fife driver claimed he was three times over the drink-drive limit because he had downed a jar of GHERKINS.
Marcel Furtuna, of Primrose Avenue, Rosyth, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court accompanied by a translator.
The 56-year-old, original from Romania, claimed he only drank one bottle of lager in a pub but also downed a jar of pickled gherkins.
However, when breathalysed he was almost three times over the limit.
He admitted that on June 1 in Queensferry Road, Rosyth and elsewhere, he drove after consuming excess alcohol.
His reading was 59 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the legal limit being 22 microgrammes.
Defence solicitor Ian Beatson said his client had been in the UK for five years and came to Scotland a year ago after working in Surrey. He currently works at the Marine Harvest fish processing factory in Rosyth.
“He says he wasn’t aware, although he should have been, of the drink-driving limit in Scotland,” Mr Beatson continued.
He said his client had been at a bookmaker’s shop, had been playing bingo and then had gone to a pub after hearing music coming from it.
He said in the bar his client only had one bottle of Peroni, which the solicitor said was not a drink he was a familiar with.
However, Sheriff Craig McSherry said it was “within judicial knowledge” that one small bottle of the lager would not result in such a high reading.
“I think he had a few more than that,” added the sheriff.
Mr Beatson said, “I don’t know if I’m helping his case but he did eat a full jar of gherkins as well.”
“What? With white wine vinegar?” asked the sheriff.
He fined Furtuna £500 and banned him from driving for a year.
