Moray man crashed into house after evening spent drinking watching England v Argentina in World Cup semi final

An Elgin man who crashed his car into a residential property after an evening of drinking has been disqualified from driving.

Andrew Duncan, 49, was driving west along Pluscarden Road, Elgin, at around 1.35am on July 16 when his vehicle passed police travelling in the opposite direction.

The vehicle subsequently crashed into a residential property.

When officers arrived at the scene, they identified Duncan as the driver and noted that he had slurred speech, dilated pupils and smelled of alcohol.

Duncan complied with the officers and freely admitted: “I was driving.”

Subsequent tests revealed that Duncan had 99 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – around four-and-a-half times the legal limit.

Defence solicitor Megan Lee told the court that her client had committed a similar offence 16 years ago.

She said the latest incident had brought “true shame” on Duncan and described the day as an unusual one for him.

The court heard Duncan had been drinking and golfing with friends before going out to watch the World Cup semi-final between Argentina and England.

“He would normally have taken a taxi but he made the entirely wrong decision,” Ms Lee said.

However, Sheriff David Harvie warned Duncan that he had been extremely fortunate to escape the incident without more serious consequences.

“You were four-and-a-half times the limit at your age,” the sheriff said.

“Choosing to do that, you’re lucky you’re here today.

“This isn’t the first time, albeit the last time was 16 years ago.

“A man of 49, you should have learned from that.”

Sheriff Harvie disqualified Duncan from driving for 14 months.

He was also fined £1475 to be paid within 28 days.