A MOTORIST who drove through a roundabout on the A82 while he was almost three-and-a-half times the alcohol limit will have to wait until later this month to learn his fate.

John Gilchrist crashed his car through the Dunglass roundabout between Bowling and Dumbarton at the start of the evening rush hour on October 6, mounting a footpath and colliding with an emergency crash barrier.

Gilchrist, 57, appeared for sentencing at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on January 5 – but the presiding sheriff agreed to wait for the production of a medical report before passing sentence, after learning that Gilchrist had a previous conviction for a similar offence.

Justin Farrell, prosecuting, told the court: “At 4.40pm on October 6, a witness sitting within a vehicle at the entrance to the roundabout observed the accused drive a blue Ford Ka straight through the roundabout, on to the footpath, mount a crash barrier and come to a stop.

“The witness told the emergency services what had happened. Police arrived at 5pm and the vehicle mounted on the barrier with only two wheels on the road.

“Paramedics treated the accused but found no significant injuries.

“The accused, who smelled of alcohol, was cautioned and told police, in slurred words, 'I had a can of lager about 11 o'clock this morning'.”

Gilchrist, of Clyde Court in Clydebank, was arrested and taken to Clydebank police office, where he supplied two 'intoximeter' readings of 73 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.

The legal limit in Scotland is 22 microgrammes.

At a previous court hearing Gilchrist had admitted charges of dangerous driving and driving while over the alcohol limit.

Gilchrist's solicitor, Kenny Clark, suggested that a medical report on his client might be useful prior to final sentencing.

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry said: “There is a previous conviction which is analogous. This was a bad example of drunk driving and dangerous driving.”

Sentence was deferred until January 26; Gilchrist's bail, and the interim disqualification imposed after his guilty plea, were both continued until then.