Whether you agree with Scottish independence or not, you have to admit that Scottish justice is better than ours when it comes to nailing pisshead drivers.
Darren William Jackson, 21, raced through a red traffic light and smashed into a metal railing. The car was effectively written off. Jackson apparently did something else, and a witness reported it to police, who found him sitting in the car. He drove off but was traced a short time later. He failed a roadside breath test, but refused to give further breath specimens when at the station.
He only held a provisional licence and was therefore uninsured.
In court, his vehicle was confiscated and he was jailed for six months. He was further banned for two years, and ordered to take an extended test after that.
Mind you, it appears that pleas in mitigation are as lame in Scotland as they are anywhere else.
Solicitor Anika Jethwa admitted that Jackson had a record of previous offences for road traffic matters, although none for drink-driving or driving dangerously.
She said: “His last road traffic offence was in 2010. He bought the car and was taking driving lessons twice a week. He wanted to pass his test to try to find employment.”
His solicitor asked for a “community based” sentence on the strength of this:
…Ms Jethwa said Jackson has two children and appears to offend mainly when he has been consuming alcohol.
“He had stopped drinking but on that day he had been at his friend’s father’s funeral and alcohol was taken,” she said.
I like it. He’s “stopped drinking”, but was pissed and could have killed someone. Like I say, Scottish justice is much better than ours.