Former Dundee FC captain Bobby Glennie has been fined and banned from driving after he was found to be more than twice the legal limit.
Glennie (53) appeared from custody at the city’s sheriff court on Monday, where Sheriff Munro fined him £600 and disqualified him from driving for 20 months after he admitted driving with excess alcohol (85 mics) on June 17 in Kinghorne Road.
The former star spent the weekend in the cells after being taken into custody on Friday.
He sat in the dock with his head bowed as the court was told police arrested him after an anonymous tip-off.
Depute fiscal Carol White said, “At around 7.35pm, an anonymous telephone call was received by the police that the accused was in a pub in Kinghorne Road and had been drinking for some time and it was thought likely that he would drive.”
She said at around 7.55 police were on duty in Kinghorne Road and saw the accused driving his car. They signalled for him to stop, which he did and they smelled alcohol on his breath.
Solicitor George Donnelly, for Glennie, described his client as having enjoyed a “fairly famous” footballing career in Dundee.
He said he had met a former Dundee FC team-mate who was visiting the city from Australia and the pair had gone for a drink together.
Glennie had left the pub and picked up his wife from a medical appointment and dropped her home, then went for a drink with his father-in-law.
He told the court that, ironically, Glennie only lived about 20 minutes’ walk away but had been “foolish” on this occasion and knew he would now have to pay the consequences.
“He is someone who is a stranger to the court,” he said. “He is in full-time employment as a forklift driver which fortunately is done on site,” he told the court, adding that it would not affect his employment.
“He has driven since he was 17 years old without even a speeding offence,” Mr Donnelly added.
Sheriff Munro told Glennie she would have fined him £900 but reduced it to £600 as he had pled guilty at the earliest opportunity. She also banned him from driving for 20 months but granted him leave to apply for the Vernon Manfield drink-driving rehabilitation scheme, which although it results in a further financial penalty, would entitle him to a four-month reduction in his disqualification if successful.
After his release from custody Glennie said, “I’m not talking about that.”
The former Dundee star, who also counts Aberdeen among his clubs as well as Angus sides Forfar and Arbroath, made over 300 appearances for the Dark Blues between 1978 and 1988.