A Fife driving instructor was nearly three times the drink-drive limit when an off-duty police officer stopped her driving out of a pub car park.
Harriete Linklater was found guilty of driving the white BMW while under the influence outside Louie Brown’s in Dalgety Bay, just after midnight on February 15 this year.
During a trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court, 36-year-old Linklater admitted the offence but claimed she only moved the car a few metres to another parking space after thinking better of her decision.
Her defence lawyer, Frank McAuley, argued such a short distance travelled could give special reasons for his client to avoid disqualification from driving.
But Sheriff Krista Johnston rejected this and banned Linklater from driving for 16 months and fined her £500.
Officer stood in front of car
The trial heard from an off-duty police sergeant who had been in the bar with a friend on the evening of Valentine’s Day.
He said they got speaking to Linklater and her wife after his friend intervened when another man had been bothering the couple at the bar.
The officer said he asked the women three times not to drive after hearing: “I’m just going to drive up the road, it’s only two minutes away”.
He heard the engine start and said: “I phoned 999 and stood in front of the car.
“The car was at the entrance/exit of the car park. If I had not stood in front of it, it would have been out onto the public road straight away.
“The car did reverse back into a space.”
Two attending police officers told the trial the women appeared intoxicated, with slurred speech and smelling of alcohol.
They said Linklater’s wife initially claimed she was driving but were made aware by a colleague Linklater was behind the wheel.
Both recalled Linklater then saying “it was me”.
She failed a roadside breath test and gave further breath samples at the police station, the lowest being nearly three times the limit (63mics/22).
‘Cataclysmic’ disqualification
Linklater, of Letham Gait, Dalgety Bay, told the trial she and her wife left the bar in an argument before getting in the car.
She said: “Then, literally just as we were about to leave the space, I was like ‘what are we doing?’ and we were going to park in another space.”
She said she moved the car into another space on the other side of the car park.
Her wife Danielle Moffat, also said they stopped in another space after realising it was a “stupid mistake”.
Referencing case law, Mr McAuley argued, based on the couple’s evidence, the “shortness of distance” driven was enough to avoid “a fairly cataclysmic” disqualification.
He said Linklater is a full-time, self-employed driving instructor whose ability to work has been impacted, reducing her income.
The lawyer said even if not disqualified, six or more penalty points would mean she would lose the right to operate as a driving instructor.
He said Linklater recognises it was a “colossal misjudgement”.
No special reasons
Sheriff Johnston said she was not persuaded there were special reasons, noting the case law referenced involved a vehicle causing a hazard being moved a short distance.
She said based on the facts Linklater had driven the vehicle to exit the car park.
“The only reason you did not is that (the off-duty sergeant) happened to be in the pub and stopped you from doing that.
“On the basis of that being the case I most certainly don’t find special reasons.
“You ran this matter to trial, you gave evidence admitting your guilt, there are clearly no special reasons.”
The sheriff said Linklater can undertake a drink-drive rehabilitation course which, if successfully completed, will mean she gets her licence back after 12 months.
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