A drunken trucker driving dangerously on the M8 later smashed into an entrance barrier at a Tesco distribution centre, causing £3,000 damage to his lorry.
Intoxicated Peter Tuck weaved across three lanes on the M8 so dangerously that other drivers didn’t dare overtake him, a court heard.
He repeatedly veered from the inside lane into lane two and back onto the hard shoulder as he drove eastwards along the busy motorway. Motorists who were worried that he was either drunk or had fallen ill at the wheel tried to call the police but couldn’t get an answer on the non-emergency number.
One driver eventually called Tuck’s employers using the number displayed on the back of his 50-tonne rig before he pulled off Scotland’s busiest motorway at Harthill services, North Lanarkshire.
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The Army veteran answered a call from his concerned bosses while he was parked at the lorry stop, reassuring them he was OK and telling them he’d arrive at the depot in 20 minutes, Livingston Sheriff Court heard.
But when he reached Tesco’s Distribution Centre in Livingston, West Lothian, he drove straight through the entrance barrier, wrecking the gates and damaging the cab of his lorry.
Security staff who watched the incident on CCTV called the police who a short time later found Tuck, 43, from Tain, Ross-Shire, asleep in his cab.
Chris Yule, prosecuting, said the officers woke the accused and informed him of their reasons for speaking to him.
He said: “The accused struggled to sit up straight, appeared to have a dry mouth and there was a strong smell of alcohol from his breath.
“Asked who the driver was he replied: ‘It was me’ and asked when the last time he had consumed alcohol was he said it had been approximately 45 minutes prior.”
Mr Yule said Tuck got back into the driver’s seat and tried to restart the lorry – even though PCs Jonathan Threadgold and Philip Dickson had removed the keys from the ignition.
The former soldier then had to be dragged from the cab as he resisted the officers and repeatedly tried to kick them on the body.
He was arrested and taken to Livingston Police Station where he refused to give two samples of breath as required under drink driving laws, claiming: “I haven’t been driving.”
Tuck pleaded guilty on Friday to driving dangerously while intoxicated through alcohol or drugs, assault the police and failing to provide two specimens of breath for analysis during the incident on 9 April last year (2022).
Andrew Docherty, defending, said it was clear that his client’s problems with alcohol stemmed from his time in the military with which he had seen active service in Bosnia.
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On deployment in Afghanistan, he said, his convoy had come under attack and one of his best friends had died after triggering an IED (improvised explosive device) where Tuck should have been positioned.
Since that traumatic event, he said, Tuck had continued to struggle with alcohol but had been teetotal since February 20 this year after engaging with a support group.
He said the accused had repaid the £3000 cost of the damage to his lorry through wage deductions, but no estimate had been made available for the cost of replacing the gate.
Passing sentence, Sheriff Isobel Poole told Tuck: “This could have been so much worse. And it’s only by luck really that there’s been no injury caused.
“Your HGV could have caused so much damage and we’ve heard of instances where such vehicles have been involved with devastating results, so it’s only by some good fortune that we haven’t got that situation to deal with here.”
Although the circumstances merited a prison sentence, she said she took account of Tuck’s early guilty plea and his solicitor’s submission that there was an alternative to custody which could benefit both the accused and the community.
She banned him from driving for two years and until he sits the advanced test of competency to drive, placed him under social work supervision for two years and ordered him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work within 18 months.
She warned that if he failed to comply with any of the conditions he would be brought back to court to be dealt with for the offences.
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