Driver told: ‘You could have killed’

A SERIAL drink driver could have killed or maimed someone when he hit a city wall, a sheriff claimed this week.

Ewart McMordie (33) avoided jail at Inverness Sheriff Court on Tuesday but was warned the consequences could have been far more serious after he took to the wheel of a van while more than double the drink drive limit.

Sheriff Ian Abercrombie told him: "There could have been someone walking their dog close to the wall you demolished, or any other type of circumstances that could have resulted in someone’s death or maiming for the rest of their life."

McMordie, of High Street, Auldearn, admitted on November 27 last year on Telford Road, Inverness, he drove a van with a count of 72 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The limit is 35 micrograms.

Defence agent Craig Wood said McMordie, who is single and formerly a tree surgeon who has since lost his job, had drunk "four or five pints" the night before.

However, he was due to be picked up early that morning for a job as an assistant on a snowplough but when his lift failed to appear, he "foolishly" decided to take his own vehicle to work.

McMordie was banned from driving for eight years, ordered to carry out 240 hours of community service, placed on probation for two years and told to attend a drink rehabilitation course.