A drink-driver has walked free from court after a sheriff delivered the defence on his behalf.
Asan Ahmad was facing imprisonment after he admitted failing to provide a specimen of breath to police officers who believed he had been driving while over the legal limit.
However, the 37-year-old, who had two convictions for drink-driving and another for driving while disqualified, escaped with the maximum 300 hours’ unpaid work when he appeared at Perth Sheriff Court on Wednesday.
Sheriff Robert McCreadie had asked solicitor Martin Black to explain why his client should not be jailed only to stop the agent from responding and give his own answers.
He suggested to Mr Black that Ahmad’s good family background, employment history and the fact that he had remained out of trouble for some years were all factors that could count in his favour.
The solicitor agreed.
Ahmad, of Berridale Avenue, Glasgow, had admitted that on February 12, at divisional police headquarters in Perth, he failed to provide two specimens of breath for analysis.
The specimens were required to ascertain his ability to drive or the proportion of alcohol in his breath at the time he was behind the wheel of a car at the Blackford Hotel and on the A9 Stirling to Perth road.
Mr Black told the court his client had suffered from mental and alcohol problems in the past, but accepted that while these had been addressed, his client continued to drink alcohol.
In addition to imposing the community payback order, Sheriff McCreadie also banned Ahmad from the road for six years for “the protection of public safety.”