A BUSINESS owner has been banned from getting behind the wheel for 12 YEARS – after racking up his THIRD conviction for drink-driving.

Paul Docherty was almost five times the legal limit when he was stopped on the A82 last November.

The 50-year-old was banned from holding or obtaining a licence until May 2030 when he appeared at Dumbarton Sheriff Court for sentencing on Friday.

But he was spared a prison term after the court heard details of the “significant” effect a prison sentence would have on his family.

Fiscal depute Sarah Healing told the court the occupants of another car on the A82 became concerned at the manner in which a vehicle was being driven at 12.20pm on November 24.

Police were contacted, and half an hour later the same car was stopped by officers at Aldochlay, near Luss.

Docherty, of Torogay Street in the Milton area of Glasgow, provided a breath sample with a reading of 104 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath; the legal limit is 22 microgrammes.

Docherty’s solicitor, Susan Gibson, told the court: “He accepts he is in a very difficult position today. This is his third drink-driving offence, it’s a very high reading, and there is no escaping his record.

“He is alcohol dependent – he fully admits that. But since November he has sought help from professionals and there has been a significant improvement in his alcohol intake.

“When he first instructed me he was consuming 30 to 40 units per day. He is not completely alcohol-free, but he has reduced his intake to three or four units per day and hopes he will be able to become completely abstinent.”

But Ms Gibson said her client, who lives with his wife and three sons, all in full-time education, had been sober for seven years prior to the offence and had never been in prison before.

She told the court that Docherty, who she described as self-employed, was the main breadwinner for his family, and said there was “a real prospect” they could lose their home if he were locked up.

Sheriff Simon Pender told Docherty: “As I am sure you are aware, this is an extremely serious matter given your previous convictions, and it is clear I must give serious consideration to sending you into custody.

“However I have concluded, by a very narrow margin indeed, that sending you to prison would have a disproportionate effect on your family.

“But any credit you are due for your plea of guilty is fully reflected in my decision not to send you to custody today.”

In addition to the 12-year ban, Docherty was placed under social workers’ supervision for two years and ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work – the maximum allowed under the law – by May 2019.

Sheriff Pender warned him: “This is an absolute last chance. If you come back before me having not complied with this order, you can expect an immediate, and significant, custodial sentence.”