A BELLSMYRE man who flouted a driving ban by getting behind the wheel after an all-day drinking binge has been jailed.

Colum Gallagher was disqualified for 20 months in June – but less than two months later he was pulled over by police after leaving the boozy session at his Lomond Drive home to “go and get some messages”.

The 37-year-old was handed a six-month jail term when he appeared at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on Friday for sentencing – but the presiding sheriff said there might still be a chance offered to Gallacher to turn his life around when he’s released from prison.

Fiscal depute Claire Nicholls told Friday’s hearing Gallagher had been drinking all day with another person before heading to the shops around 6.30pm.

He was spotted driving away from the shop by a witness who called police. When officers stopped Gallagher they could smell alcohol and cannabis, and described his skin as pale.

They then carried out a check which revealed he was already banned from driving.

Ms Nicholls said a police search of the vehicle had found heroin weighing 0.38 grams, with a value of around £20.

Gallagher was remanded in custody on September 29 after he admitted driving while disqualified, being unfit to drive through drink or drugs, driving without insurance and being in possession of a controlled drug in Lomond Drive on August 17.

Pleas of not guilty to charges of taking and driving a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent and being in possession of a quantity of cannabis were accepted by the Crown.

Gallagher also appeared on Friday for sentencing on an unrelated charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting and swearing at his home address on September 20.

Ms Nicholls said Gallagher had returned to the property – his mother’s home – at about 1.30pm that day, apparently under the influence, and was still in the same condition at 7pm, when his mother asked what he had taken.

Gallagher reacted by shouting and swearing at her, and continued in the same vein when police arrived at the property.

Scott Adair, defending, said Gallacher had previously been the subject of two failed drug treatment and testing orders (DTTOs), but that he would be keen to grasp a similar opportunity if a new order were to be made.

“Having seen him over both those orders, they did operate well at first,” Mr Adair said.

He said: “He would be motivated to make a further attempt, but he is realistic about what’s likely to happen today in view of his record, and he knows he may not get that chance.”

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry told Gallagher: “Your record is atrocious.

“The cause, reason, excuse, explanation – call it what you like – is there for all to see.

“You have to stop getting behind the steering wheel of a car when disqualified, and you have to stop driving while under the influence of anything whatsoever. Otherwise you’re going to kill someone.”

Gallagher was jailed for a total of six months for driving while unfit through drink or drugs and driving while disqualified, and banned from driving until 2021.

He was fined £200 for driving without insurance, though no time was sought to pay, and the alternative jail term will be served alongside his six-month sentence.

On the charge of threatening or abusive behaviour, however, the sheriff deferred sentence until February 23, by which time Gallagher should be out of prison.

Ordering a supplementary report from social workers to be prepared for that date, the sheriff added: “If you are assessed as being suitable for a DTTO I will consider that possibility. If you can show you can stay out of trouble you may be considered for a DTTO assessment. But if you offend again after you are released from prison, I won’t be thinking about a DTTO.”