Four month sentence for ‘missing’ Elgin man found drunk in Inverness

Elgin man who was found drunk in his car in Inverness is jailed.

AN ELGIN MAN who was the subject of a full-scale alert when he went missing from his home ended up appearing at Inverness Sheriff Court this week.

There he admitted being drunk in charge of a vehicle at a supermarket in the city 24 hours after concerned family and friends and launched a search.

Miltonduff man Ben Pirie sparked a major social media campaign when he went missing in June – but he was found the following day by an off-duty police officer sitting drunk in his car close to the Tesco store in the Inverness Retail Park.

Pirie, 31, was regarded as a ‘vulnerable person’ by police following the breakup of his marriage. Fiscal Depute David Morton told the court that a roadside breath test was undertaken and showed that he was over the limit.

He added: “At the station blood was taken which gave a reading which was six times the legal limit for driving.”

In his defence solicitor Duncan Henderson said that the incident came at a time when Pirie was at a low ebb: “His marriage had broken down, he was homeless and he had lost contact with his children.”

Pirie was sentenced to four months in jail by Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood.