A court in Scotland has refused an appeal by an HGV driver jailed for drink driving after he claimed he should have been ordered to undertake unpaid work instead.

Timothy Humphreys was jailed in January for six months after driving his artic for 20 miles along the A90 while more than four times over the drink drive limit.

A motorist behind the HGV witnessed Humphreys drifting from lane to lane on the dual carriageway and on one occasion almost striking the nearside kerb and she put on her hazard warning lights to warn other motorists.

Police located him on an industrial estate in Stonehaven and he was subsequently arrested.

The lorry driver appealed the sentence claiming that the sheriff had not stated sufficiently why a disposal other than a custodial sentence was appropriate and had not recorded his reasons for passing the sentence.

He also said the gravity of the offending meant a community payback order with hours of unpaid work would have been more appropriate.

However, the appeal court said the driver had shown a reckless disregard for his actions and the fact there had been no accident did not diminish the danger he posed to other motorists.

Sheriff principal Mhairi Stephen QC said: “The sheriff made it clear that the gravity of the offending required a custodial term.

“If the reason for imposing a short custodial term was not minuted, nor specifically and separately addressed, it was hiding in plain sight. We do not consider that the sheriff erred.”

Topics