A RETIRED solicitor took the blame for his wife when she drove home from a restaurant after downing two bottles of wine.
Christopher Pope told police officers he was driving his wife Moira's Renault Scenic home from the Cambustay restaurant in the Barnhill area of Dundee in March last year.
However, when police carried out routine checks on Mr Pope's licence they discovered it had been revoked on medical grounds.
They then went to the restaurant, where staff told them they had seen Mrs Pope getting behind the wheel and had called the police because of the amount she had drunk before driving.
Mr Pope could now face a jail term after being convicted of lying to officers with the intent to pervert the course of justice in a crime reminiscent of that involving former cabinet minister Chris Huhne and ex-wife Vicky Pryce.
They were both jailed for eight months this year after Pryce lied and took speeding points on her licence when Huhne was caught on a speed camera.
Mrs Pope was yesterday convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol.
A three-day trial at Dundee Sheriff Court heard the couple had gone for a meal with friends at the Camubstay restaurant on March 27 last year.
Ann Mowat, a supervisor at the restaurant, said: "We were aware of how much she had to drink. The lady got behind the wheel and drove off after having two bottles of wine. We were standing at the window watching."
Waitress Nicola McFarlane added: "We watched her driving off and called the police."
Police constable Roderick Selfridge said he and fellow police officer Mark Reid had initially been told to look out for a male drink driver following the tip-off.
They were later directed to the Popes' home in Monifieth, Angus where Mrs Pope answered the door.
Mr Selfridge said: "I asked her who was driving. She said it was Chris. I asked him and he said 'it was me'. I administered a breath test and it was negative – the reading was zero.
"Mrs Pope had clearly consumed alcohol – her eyes were glazed, she was unsteady on her feet and I could smell the alcohol.
"I later checked his licence and discovered it was revoked on medical grounds.
"We then went to the restaurant two nights later and they told us it was the lady matching Mrs Pope's description who had driven the car, and that's why they called the police."
Mr Pope, 65, of Arbroath, and Mrs Pope, 65, of Monifieth, denied the charges at Dundee Sheriff Court.
However, after a three-day summary trial, Sheriff Alistair Brown convicted the pair.
Sheriff Brown said: "I reject Mr Pope's evidence. I don't find him to be a witness worthy of credit on any matter that's not to his advantage.
"I find Mrs Pope was the one driving the car, and I find she was unfit to do so through drink at the time. Mr Pope knew the police were investigating drink driving and the person driving was Mrs Pope.
"He knew perfectly well what journey it was the police were interested in and he knew he was not the driver and that she was."
Sheriff Brown deferred sentence on Mr and Mrs Pope for social work background reports, and ordained them to appear for sentence in September.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article