A Fife man who was caught driving after an evening of cocktails boasted to the police officers arresting him, “my lawyer will get me off with this”.
Craig Kelly appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court where he pled guilty to driving while more than three times the drink drive limit on October 14.
The 33-year-old was caught in the early hours of the morning on Hawkslaw Road in Leven after downing “soft drink”-type cocktails at a restaurant.
Kelly had also originally been charged with careless driving, failing to stop and failing to give his identity as the driver to police following the incident.
His not guilty pleas were accepted by the Crown Office.
Depute fiscal Dev Kapadia told the court: “The time of the offence was 12.45am and officers were on a uniformed routine patrol at the locus when they saw a silver Vauxhall Corsa driving around the roundabout.
“They became concerned about the manner of the driving.
“There were no other vehicles on the road at the time and thereafter the police activated their blue lights and followed the accused who was travelling at excessive speed.
“Eventually the vehicle was brought to a halt on William Laing Crescent and thereafter the accused tried to evade the police officers but was subsequently found and arrested.
“Whilst in the back of the police van the accused told officers: ‘My lawyer will get me off with this’.”
Sheriff Alison McKay said: “Well Mr Spence, you have achieved that with charges one, two and three but not four.”
Defence solicitor Dewar Spence replied: “Unfortunately charge four comes with the heaviest penalty.”
He explained that his client had been out at a restaurant in the Kennoway area with his girlfriend where a bartender was practising making cocktails.
He added: “My client did not fully appreciate the amount of alcohol contained in the cocktails because they tasted almost as if they were soft drinks.
“He fell out with his girlfriend and drove off. When he saw the police, he realised at that stage there was a problem and he panicked. He apologises for it.”
The driver was found to have 77 microgrammes of alcohol in his breath. The legal limit is 22.
Kelly, of Brown Street in Buckhaven, was handed a 15 month driving ban and fined £600.
