Drink driver jailed wearing “To the pub” t-shirt

A SERIAL drink driver who was found more than SIX times the limit behind the wheel has been jailed for ten months - after he sat in the dock wearing a t-shirt bearing the slogan: “To the pub.”

Ronald McFarlane was found behind the wheel after an all-day drinking session at the Brechin Music Festival in Angus.

Forfar Sheriff Court heard McFarlane had been banned from the road three times in the past for drink driving.

A sheriff branded his actions “horrific” - and jailed him for 10 months.

Fiscal depute Cheryl Clark told the court: “On August 30 a friend of the accused drove him to attend a music festival in Brechin.

“They both had pet dogs in the vehicle.

“They had been drinking in the pubs all day.

“At 7.30pm the accused went to walk the dogs and drove the vehicle along to Market Street to buy cigarettes at the Co-op, which was about 300 metres away.”

A member of the public saw drunken McFarlane clearly under the influence in the shop.

Police then found him driving the motor along the road, and he was pulled over.

Miss Clark said jobless McFarlane was “heavily under the influence and was struggling to stand”.

McFarlane, 57, pleaded guilty to driving a car with 137 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The limit is 22.

Defence solicitor Norman Bruce said: “He had run out of cigarettes and decided to drive.”

Sheriff Grant Thorley jailed McFarlane for 10 months and banned him from driving for 10 years.

He said: “There’s no alternative here to a custodial sentence.

“I see the reading in the complaint is horrific, and even if we go back to the old limit it would still be a significant one.”