Denny drink driver had just given ill pal a lift home when police stopped him

Josh Owens, 29, appeared at Falkirk Sheriff Court last Thursday having pleaded guilty to drink driving at Westfield Roundabout, the A904 Falkirk road and Earlsgate Roundabout and Earls Road, Grangemouth on February 18. He gave a reading of 8o microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, when the legal limit is 22 microgrammes.

Ann Orr, procurator fiscal depute, said: “In the early hours of Saturday, February 18 police were on mobile patrol when they saw a vehicle travelling northwards along the A9 towards Westfield Roundabout in Falkirk.

"Officers were concerned about the manner of the driving of the vehicle – it drove through a large amount of standing water without attempting to slow down or drive around it. Police followed the vehicle and continued to have concerns about the manner of driving, seeing the vehicle veer into the opposite carriageway.

"They stopped the vehicle and approached the driver to speak to him – he said he had collected friends from the pub earlier in the night. He was slurring his words.”

The court heard Owens had been having problems with his hips and was scheduled to go in for an operation. At the time time of the offence he had just learned the operation had been cancelled and was said to be in “low state” because of this news.

He had been invited out by his friends and one of them became unwell during the course of the evening and was unable to pay for a taxi, so Owens offered to give him a lift.

It was stated Owens had a previous conviction for drink driving nine years ago and had a history of “mishandling” his pain relief medication – which includes morphine.

Sheriff Alison Michie said: “You were almost four times over the legal limit and are fully aware of the significance of the offence having been convicted in the last 10 years of a directly analogous offence.”

She placed Owens, 29 Brewster Place, Denny, on a supervised community payback order for 12 months with the condition he complete 133 hours of unpaid work within that period. He was also banned from driving for two years.