Police called to investigate after a car hit a wall found the driver responsible barefoot and urine soaked.
“He told the police he was suffering from a sore neck and was taken to hospital in Dunfermline to be checked over,” Ms MacDonald said. “When asked to to take a breath test he said: ‘I know I am going to fail it anyway’.”
Solicitor Alan Davie said Weir had been working in north-east Fife on the day in question and, after agreeing to go to the pub with a colleague, had initially planned to stay the night in the area.
“Later on … he decided to drive home instead,” the defence agent continued. “Mr Weir had drunk several pints of beer and quite clearly the alcohol impacted on the quality of his driving.
“He recognises just how serious this offence is and also realises how severe the consequences of his actions could have been.”
Mr Davie said his client was determined to keep working as an electrician, although he acknowledged this would be far from easy given his inevitable driving ban.
“Mr Weir is confident that he will be able to maintain his employment, albeit there will be limitations as to which contracts he can take on,” the solicitor said.
Sentencing, Sheriff Charles Macnair described it as a “very serious” offence.
“This was a very high reading indeed,” he said. “You were almost two-and-a-half times the legal limit. In the circumstances it is hardly surprising that your car ended up on its side in the road. In fact, it seems to me that it is only by the greatest of good fortune that nobody was seriously injured as a result of what happened.”
Weir was fined £600 and banned from driving for 21 months.
He agreed to pay off the fine at a rate of £200 per month and the length of the ban will be reduced if he successfully completes a drink-drive rehabilitation course.
Darren Weir was so drunk he could barely walk, and when asked to take a breathalyser test said: “I know I am going to fail it anyway.”
On Thursday, Cupar Sheriff Court heard the 35-year-old self-employed electrician had drunk “several pints of beer” before getting behind the wheel.
Weir, of Eden Road, Dunfermline, admitted driving with excess alcohol (191 mgs, the legal limit is 80) on the A917 Upper Largo to Balchrystie Road on February 27.
Depute fiscal Diana MacDonald said another motorist called the police after watching in horror as the accused swerved across the road before careering into a wall.
“Just after 10pm a member of the public became concerned by the manner of the accused’s driving,” she told the court. “He seemed to be swerving over the road and then hit a wall.
“The member of public, who had been driving behind the accused, phoned the police.”
Officers were soon on the scene, where they discovered Weir’s car lying on its side in the road.
“The accused was sitting nearby,” the depute fiscal continued. “Police observed that he was not wearing any shoes, was unsteady on his feet and seemed to have urinated himself. Officers could also smell alcohol on his breath.”
Weir, a married dad of one, appeared to have been injured as a result of the collision and an ambulance was called.
Continued…