Witness was ‘driven to drink by trial’

Published on 28/03/2012 12:00

A DRIVER claimed the pressure of giving evidence against two gangland extortionists drove him to drink-drive.

Derek Drummond, from Armadale, West Lothian, was a witness in a High Court case that last week saw two men jailed for a total of ten years.

He was fined £300 and banned from the road for 16 months yesterday after being caught two and a half times the drink-drive limit.

Livingston Sheriff Court heard the extortion case had cost Drummond, 46, his marriage and his business.

John Barclay, prosecuting, said a householder followed Drummond’s Renault Trafic after spotting it hitting a kerb in Bathgate, West Lothian.

When the accused drew in to the side of the road, the householder spoke to him and noticed he was slurring his words, before phoning police.

Drummond admitted the charges against him.