Lorry driver guzzled 20 shots of vodka as he hurtled along A9

A LORRY driver who downed 20 measures of vodka in just 90 minutes as he drove along one of Scotland’s most dangerous roads has been jailed for four months and banned from driving for six years.

Kevin Walker, 48, was almost five times over the drink-drive limit when he was breathalysed after his heavy goods vehicle was spotted veering from side to side on the A9 last month.

Walker had only been back on the road for six months after completing a previous disqualification for drink-driving. He had been banned for two years and ordered to carry out 200 hours’ community service at Airdrie Sheriff Court in February 2009.

Walker, who had narrowly avoided being sent to prison for his previous conviction, had been planning to drive a further 115 miles when he was intercepted at Dunkeld, Perthshire, while delivering scrapped car parts.

Last night, politicians and road safety campaigners said the public would be concerned at the “leniency” of the sentence and called for a “zero tolerance” approach to drink-driving.

Concerned drivers telephoned the police, and when they caught up with Walker while he was parked in a layby, they found him slumped over the wheel.

Witnesses had to help the lorry driver, who could barely stand up, down from his cab. An almost empty bottle of vodka was found in the vehicle.

Police assumed he was ill and contacted paramedics. However, medics decided Walker was simply drunk.

Yesterday, at Perth Sheriff Court, Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said Walker had another identical conviction three years ago and said there was no option but to send him to prison.

Sheriff Foulis said: “It’s not just driving a vehicle – it is a lorry. The A9 is never quiet, but this was at 1:20pm, slap-bang in the middle of the holiday period.

“If a private car comes into contact with an articulated lorry, Mr Walker might be injured but his chances of survival are better than someone in a car.

“It could quite possibly not just be one person, but it could be a mother, a father and two or three kids. It is just absolute madness. It is mayhem waiting to happen.”

Walker, from Forres, Morayshire, admitted driving a motor lorry while his alcohol reading was 156 micrograms, compared with the limit of 35 micrograms per 100ml of breath.

Linda Clark, defending, said Walker had been drinking because he was depressed following the anniversary of his mother’s death.

“He accepts he purchased alcohol, consumed a fair quantity of the bottle he had purchased, and stupidly had continued on his way,” she said. “He is in no doubt the court takes a serious view.”

John Lamont MSP, Conservative justice spokesman, said: “It’s always important to respect the independence of the judicial process. However, it is clear that people will be very concerned a repeat offender – way, way over the alcohol limit – appears to have been let off very leniently. He is lucky someone was neither hurt nor killed as a result of his antics.

“Of course, he will only end up serving less than half his sentence behind bars, so at the very least we should scrap automatic early release to send a stronger message that this behaviour will not be tolerated.”

Kath Hartley, senior development officer for Brake, the road safety charity, said: “Driving whilst five times over the limit is taking an appalling risk with the lives of others, but in fact research shows that even small amounts of alcohol can impair your ability to drive safely.

“Brake is calling on the government to take a zero-tolerance approach to drink-driving. That means lowering the limit to 20 micrograms alcohol per 100ml blood, an effective zero drink limit.”

Neil Greig, director of policy at the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said the court had missed an opportunity to send out a strong message to commercial drivers by not impounding Walker’s vehicle.