"Exemplary" lawyer four times drink drive limit

Friday 18 January 2019

A drink driver with one of the highest breath readings of 2018 has been sent to prison, after he was spotted driving along a pedestrian and cycle path.

Alexander Ferguson, 45, is a senior lawyer who came to Guernsey to work for the States, but he will now be behind bars for six weeks, and off the roads for four years, because he was caught driving while nearly four times the legal limit.

He faced not only a drink driving charge, but also one for dangerous driving.

The Court heard it was depression that drove Ferguson to get behind the wheel when he was incredibly drunk - with just below 100mg of alcohol in his breath more than the legal allowance. This depression was blamed on being separated from his family after he had moved to the island for work. 

Advocate Liam Roffey told Judge Cherry McMillan his client had been given a short term contract with the States which he hoped to have extended to a long term one, but the administration was taking some time. This meant Ferguson had not been living with his family, and, as a family man, he was suffering with this a great deal. A number of character witness statements backed this up, all describing how he was a hard working man who was very private, and had been dealing with these demons alone.

Pictured: Ferguson got six weeks in prison for his offending. 

Nonetheless, Ferguson was spotted by a member of the public driving in a red Mini Cooper at 20:20 on Thursday 6 December last year.

At first, it was noted he was swerving around the road and bumping into the pavement. But his driving got worse, as he suddenly was seen mounting a cycle and pedestrian path and driving along it for "some time". The red Mini was then seen swerving all the way across onto the wrong side of the road, before Police pulled him over at 20:26.

No one came into Ferguson's way during his drive nor was harmed, but Advocate Roffey and Judge McMillan agreed this was by luck rather than judgement. 

When giving a breath test at the police station that evening, Ferguson gave a reading of 132mg of alcohol on his breath. The legal limit is 35. 

Since that point though, the Court found it clear Ferguson deeply regretted his actions, and heard he was "mortified and embarrassed by his behaviour".

He could not explain why had made the decision to drive, but he had since been seeking medical help for both his depression and a potential drinking problem. 

Ferguson came to the island to work for the States of Guernsey, but didn't want to move his family over until he had a more long term contract. 

Judge McMillan gave Ferguson credit for his early guilty pleas, his "exemplary character", and accepted that he was genuine in his remorse because of how he was following through with medical advice.

"But this was an exceptionally high reading. It is unfortunate to say that your reading is one of the top three highest in 2018. The risk to the public was high, and it was more by luck that no one was hurt," she said.

"I question how when you got in to your car it was not made clear very soon that you were unsuitable to drive." 

According to court guidelines, anyone who has a reading of 110mg or more should expect to face prison. As Ferguson was clearly above this, Judge McMillan said immediate prison was inevitable. 

Ferguson was given six weeks for both the drink driving and the dangerous driving, both to be served consecutively. 

Pictured top: Ferguson was driving a mini when he got behind the wheel drunk last year.