Sheriff issues drug-driving warning after offender shows 'scant regard' for other road users
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Drug driver Andrew Sutherland was said by a sheriff to have shown “scant regard” for road regulations and the safety of other road users.
Sutherland admitted driving with an excess amount of a cannabis-based drug.
Police officers had occasion to speak to him about his driving in Olrig Street and Meadow Lane, Thurso, on July 13, last year.
Fiscal David Barclay told Wick Sheriff Court on Tuesday that the officers got the impression that the accused was “under the influence of something”. A breath test proved negative but a drugs test was positive.
Sutherland (31) was found to have 2.3 mcg of Delta-9 – tetrahydrocannabinol – in his system; the legal limit is 2 mcg.
Solicitor Sian Fish said that Sutherland, of Gardeners Cottage, Scrabster House, had taken the drug the previous night and thought it would be out of his system by the following day.
Sheriff Andrew Berry saw a letter from the accused’s father who employs his son in the family’s engineering business and said disqualification would affect his employment.
The sheriff said that Sutherland was “no stranger to the court” and referred to the accused’s extensive record which included road traffic offences.
Sheriff Berry made reference to Sutherland’s "scant regard" for the law and continued: “You are going to lose your employment and it is bizarre when you think that you used cannabis the night before and thought you would be able to drive the following day.
"You also had a complete disregard for your employers, whom you have put under severe pressure as they have lost your skills because you are banned from driving.”
On a general note, the sheriff made the point that there was “no hiding place” for drug drivers. Scientific developments had given police officers the means to detect such offenders by the roadside.
Sutherland was fined £375 and banned from driving for a year.
Sheriff Berry warned the accused against driving while disqualified which he said would be “highly likely” to attract a prison sentence.
In a separate but similar offence, Sheriff Berry pressed home his warning message about the dangers and consequences of drug driving.
The sheriff spoke out after Andrew Troup (28) admitted driving with 3.5 mcg of Delta-9 – tetrahydrocannabinol. The limit is 2 mcg.
The first offender was stopped by police officers in Northcote Street, Wick, on July 14, last year. They formed the impression that he had recently been using “some type of drug” and a test proved positive.
Troup told them he had smoked the cannabis-based drug 24 hours earlier.
Solicitor Josey Donnachie said that Troup, an electrician, was likely to lose out on a work project that would have taken him to Antarctica, due to the disqualification that would be imposed.
She added that the accused, of Battery Road, Wick, was not a regular cannabis user but had tried the drug after “a stressful week” and “should have exercised better judgment”.
Sheriff Berry said the case again underlined the attitude of drug drivers who thought they would be within the limit the following day without regard for the serious consequences when they are caught.
The sheriff continued that the consequences Troup was facing were ‘self-inflicted’ and added: “A lot of people in the community will take the dimmest of views about such offenders and their scant regard for others.”
Troup was fined £375 and banned from driving for a year.
