One of Scotland’s most persistent drink-drivers has been jailed for the second time in a matter of months.
Alcoholic John Johnston was due for release from Saughton Prison, Edinburgh, today but is instead facing up to a further four and a half months’ imprisonment.
The 39-year-old from Newburgh has now been convicted of drink-driving four times and has also been convicted of failing to provide a breath test.
Sentences imposed at Perth and Cupar sheriff courts mean he will be banned from the road for much of the next 11 years to protect the public from the danger he poses.
However, facing up to further time behind bars on Wednesday, he appeared blase about the sentence meted out by Sheriff Robert McCreadie at Perth.
Johnston was seen to shrug and remark ”that’s all right, isn’t it” as he was led back to the cells.
Johnston appeared from custody in connection with a drink-driving offence after he being caught under the influence with his 16-year-old son in the passenger seat.
He had been spotted driving erratically as he made his way down Perth’s busy Edinburgh Road on October 15, prompting a flurry of calls to Tayside Police.
He was stopped by officers who detected a strong smell of alcohol and also discovered his son in the vehicle.
He gave a positive breath test at the roadside and was found to be twice the legal limit, giving a reading of 76mics. The legal limit is 35mics.
This conviction adds to an unenviable record that includes housebreaking, breach of the peace, theft and a firearms offence as well as an increasing number of drink-driving incidents.
During one such drunken escapade, Johnston crashed his car on icy roads on December 12 2010, having decided on a midnight drive to show his wife a static caravan.
He had consumed six cans of lager but ignored his wife’s concerns to make the trip.
The police were soon required to deal with the aftermath of an accident as witnesses saw Johnston lose control of his vehicle in conditions that were described as ”treacherous enough for those who had nothing to drink, let alone for anyone more than two times over the limit”.
He careered off the road, with his car ending up on its roof.
In March he was jailed for 170 days at Cupar Sheriff Court after admitting that on October 2 he had failed to provide a breath test in Newburgh and again at Glenrothes Police Station, having been spotted driving erratically near his home in the Fife village’s High Street.
Addressing Perth Sheriff Court on Wednesday, solicitor Mike Tavendale said his client had ”a fairly long-standing alcohol problem”.
He said: ”He is under no illusions about the likelihood of a custodial sentence being imposed.”
Mr Tavendale said his client’s wife had suffered from ill health since his incarceration and asked that sentence be deferred to enable the pair to have contact.
However, Sheriff McCreadie said: ”Given your record it is quite clear that the only proper disposal is a custodial one.”
He disqualified the accused from driving for a further eight years for ”the sake of the public safety”.