Lorry driver said crashing 44-tonne truck 'after driving drunk for several hours' was 'oversight'

Michael Yeo, 32, from Portadown, Northern Ireland, was much than six times implicit the ineligible intoxicant bounds erstwhile helium crashed his Volvo FH lorry adjacent Kinross successful Scotland

A lorry operator who crashed a 44-tonne motortruck portion helium was much than six times implicit the alcohol limit has been jailed.

Michael Yeo, 32, from Portadown, Northern Ireland, was astatine the instrumentality of a 2020 Volvo FH lorry erstwhile helium crashed connected the agrarian B996 Glenfarg to Bein Inn Road, adjacent Kinross connected August 7 this year. He had driven drunk crossed cardinal Scotland for respective hours, Perth Sheriff Court was told.

The level of intoxicant successful his enactment was 134 mics with the ineligible bounds is 22 mics and helium admitted portion driving. He was sent to situation for 23 weeks and besides banned from the roadworthy for much than six years. Yeo, who had erstwhile portion thrust convictions, had minimised the transgression by calling it nary much than an "oversight" and a "misjudgement", the tribunal heard.

Sheriff Jennifer Bain KC said: "I enactment from the study that you person minimised the seriousness of driving specified a ample conveyance nether the power of alcohol. You described your actions arsenic an oversight. I conflict to recognize however being six times implicit the ineligible bounds tin beryllium an oversight. You besides utilized the look that it was a misjudgement.

"I person large concerns astir you reasoning it was a misjudgement driving from 9am. The clip narrated to maine was 2pm successful the afternoon. You picked up from haulage services successful Boness and past crashed successful this jurisdiction. It was aft 3pm erstwhile you tested astatine implicit six times the ineligible limit.

"You person antecedently been convicted of portion driving successful the UK successful 2021 and successful Ireland successful 2016. It is wide to this tribunal that you person learned thing from your past actions. You contiguous arsenic a precocious hazard of reoffending and you airs a important hazard of harm to the public. Because of your inability to recognise the value of your behaviour, your unspeakable record, and to support the nationalist from the precocious hazard you represent, determination is nary alternate to a custodial sentence."

She jailed Yeo for 23 weeks and disqualified him from driving for 78 months. Solicitor Billy Somerville, defending, said: "There is immoderate interest astir him minimising the seriousness of this matter. There's interest that nary of the options disposable to the tribunal person had immoderate interaction connected reducing his imaginable reoffending.

"On this juncture it was lone by luck that no-one was injured, oregon worse, killed. I person told him that if that had happened helium would beryllium successful the High Court facing years successful prison. He mislaid his employment arsenic a effect of this."