4 days ago
Police were alerted to champion bagpiper's drunk wrecking spree - by his company car!
A champion piper whose own hi-tech company car alerted police to his drunken wrecking spree has been banned from driving for 16 months.
Jonathan Greenlees resigned as a company director and took a £20,000 salary cut after smashing four other cars in 30 minutes.
The 51-year-old accountant, who has won world bagpiping titles, was at a company event at Crieff Hydro Hotel when he left colleagues and got in his £45,000 electric car.
He caused tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage to the parked cars he smashed into and has been ordered to carry out 160 hours unpaid community work.
Sheriff David Hall said: 'I cannot understand why you ended up driving your vehicle that night, bearing in mind you were staying at the hotel. Why did you drive?'
Solicitor Jim Bready, defending, said: 'He has no idea. He doesn't recall driving at all. He took a chance with his vehicle being available and drinking during the meal.
'The consequences were severe for him, but fortunately not as severe as they could have been. This type of conduct is completely out of character.
'He was a company director up until this incident. After this he resigned his post and was effectively demoted to another post in the company.
'He has taken a reduction of £20,000 in his salary as a direct result of this incident. His income is substantially in excess of £60,000.'
Perth Sheriff Court heard how Greenlees smashed into four other cars - including the same one twice - while he was more than three times over the limit.
It was his company Polestar car which first alerted the police to him crashing while the sound of several loud bangs brought witnesses out into the street.
Greenlees admitted driving dangerously and drunk while he was supposed to be staying at the Crieff Hydro Hotel in Perthshire on 14 April this year.
He resigned as Finance Director of Securigroup Ltd the day after his arrest and just six months after taking up the post with the Glasgow-based company.
Fiscal depute Elizabeth Hodgson told the court that the dangerous driving lasted for almost 30 minutes and was recorded in full by Greenlees' own dashcam device.
She said: 'From around 11pm people in the neighbourhood and roads around Crieff heard a series of collisions and came out into the street to investigate.
'They exited their homes and found the accused sitting in the driver's seat of his vehicle, a black Polestar. Police arrived ten minutes later.
'They noticed damage to multiple vehicles and traced the accused within his vehicle and trying to start it. He was asked if he was injured and replied that he wasn't.
'He was asked to exit and it was clear he was dazed, confused and slurring his words. An ambulance attended and they assessed that he was fit for custody.
'He identified himself as the driver. The usual procedures were carried out and the accused provided a lower reading of 70 mics [limit 22 mics]. He was arrested and placed in a locked cell.
'His dashcam footage shows the entire event and lasts for about half an hour. It shows how dangerous the driving is - striking multiple vehicles, stalling and running up onto the kerb.'
Mr Bready told the court his client believed he had suffered a reaction to taking medicine and alcohol during the evening and could not remember what happened.
He said: 'He can't recall leaving the table, the hotel or even driving the car. He had been taking the medication for two years or longer than that and there has never been any incident where the consumption of alcohol has resulted in anything at all.
'He was going to be staying at the Crieff Hydro. He would not normally risk driving at all, having taken any drink. His colleagues told him how much he had had to drink, and it was four to five glasses of wine.'
Greenlees, of Glasgow, admitted driving drunk from Crieff Hydro car park, on the A822 towards Muthill and on various other roads in Crieff on 14 April.
He also admitted driving dangerously and colliding with several stationary cars, driving at excessive speed, failing to maintain lane discipline, repeatedly driving on the wrong side and striking the kerb.
Greenlees was in the Field Marshall Montgomery Pipe Band when he was crowned Champion Piper at the National Mod Piping Competition in Oban in 2015. He has won numerous world titles.
