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http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/t...eid=66633&headline=hear--shep--name_page.html
A SHEPHERD has been banned from driving - after he claimed he had to use his pick-up truck to round up a deaf runaway sheepdog.
James Hogg had downed several whiskies at home when his dog, Gael, went missing late at night.
Hogg, 58, said he needed the lights on his truck to attract the dog because shouting and whistling did not work and he was concerned for her safety.
But he landed in trouble when he was spotted by police officers.
Jim Eodanable, prosecuting, told Perth Sheriff Court: "He was sitting in his car with the key in the ignition and the engine running.
"On speaking with him the officers noticed he was smelling strongly of alcohol. He conceded he had four house measures of whisky."
Hogg, of East Mains Farm, Ballechin, Logierait, Perthshire, admitted being in charge of a vehicle on the A827 Logierait to Aberfeldy road while he was nearly twice the limit.
Defence lawyer John McLaughlin said: "It was the end of the night and he had taken a drink at home because he thought he was finished.
"He went out to put the dog in and found it had escaped. There was no point calling the dog. He accepts what he did was foolhardy.
"He noticed that traffic on the road was driving erratically and slowing down. The difficulty is that the dog is completely unaware of the danger.
"He took the vehicle to have the lights help find the dog, and to have something to take it back home. He had travelled 150 yards.
"It was about two or three hours before a neighbour found the dog and took it home."
Hogg asked the court for leniency as he has a flock of 300 sheep which are about to lamb and would have to be sold if he lost his driving licence.
Business associates also wrote to the court in support of the shepherd.
Bill Oppenheim, of Oppenheim Thoroughbred Consulting, said: "It was me who found Gael on the road, trotting along without a care in the world, on her way towards Aberfeldy.
"I believe Jim to have been the unfortunate victim of a most unlucky combination of circumstances that night, stemming solely from his concern that the dog might cause an accident."
Neighbour Mervyn Browne also wrote: "At some point, I understand he noticed that one of his dogs, Gael, who is deaf, was missing.
"On going outside, he noticed the traffic was stopping and starting.
"Fearing for the safety of Gael, and knowing the futility of shouting or whistling, he decided to jump in his pickup truck and drive to the main road, hoping to locate his dog in the vehicle's lights."
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis banned Hogg for eight months and fined him £300.
A SHEPHERD has been banned from driving - after he claimed he had to use his pick-up truck to round up a deaf runaway sheepdog.
James Hogg had downed several whiskies at home when his dog, Gael, went missing late at night.
Hogg, 58, said he needed the lights on his truck to attract the dog because shouting and whistling did not work and he was concerned for her safety.
But he landed in trouble when he was spotted by police officers.
Jim Eodanable, prosecuting, told Perth Sheriff Court: "He was sitting in his car with the key in the ignition and the engine running.
"On speaking with him the officers noticed he was smelling strongly of alcohol. He conceded he had four house measures of whisky."
Hogg, of East Mains Farm, Ballechin, Logierait, Perthshire, admitted being in charge of a vehicle on the A827 Logierait to Aberfeldy road while he was nearly twice the limit.
Defence lawyer John McLaughlin said: "It was the end of the night and he had taken a drink at home because he thought he was finished.
"He went out to put the dog in and found it had escaped. There was no point calling the dog. He accepts what he did was foolhardy.
"He noticed that traffic on the road was driving erratically and slowing down. The difficulty is that the dog is completely unaware of the danger.
"He took the vehicle to have the lights help find the dog, and to have something to take it back home. He had travelled 150 yards.
"It was about two or three hours before a neighbour found the dog and took it home."
Hogg asked the court for leniency as he has a flock of 300 sheep which are about to lamb and would have to be sold if he lost his driving licence.
Business associates also wrote to the court in support of the shepherd.
Bill Oppenheim, of Oppenheim Thoroughbred Consulting, said: "It was me who found Gael on the road, trotting along without a care in the world, on her way towards Aberfeldy.
"I believe Jim to have been the unfortunate victim of a most unlucky combination of circumstances that night, stemming solely from his concern that the dog might cause an accident."
Neighbour Mervyn Browne also wrote: "At some point, I understand he noticed that one of his dogs, Gael, who is deaf, was missing.
"On going outside, he noticed the traffic was stopping and starting.
"Fearing for the safety of Gael, and knowing the futility of shouting or whistling, he decided to jump in his pickup truck and drive to the main road, hoping to locate his dog in the vehicle's lights."
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis banned Hogg for eight months and fined him £300.