A man who drove at night at three times the drink driving limit with no lights on has been banned for 20 months and fined £660.

Shetland Arts’ music development officer Bryan Peterson, 35, of Holmsgarth Brae in Lerwick, admitted driving with 105 microgrammes of alcohol in his system when he appeared from custody at Lerwick Sheriff Court today. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Peterson was stopped by police as he drove into Lerwick at 2.20am on Sunday morning. They had been contacted by a concerned member of the public who saw the car being driven through Fladdabister with no lights on.

Procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie told sheriff Philip Mann: “It stands to reason no-one would want to encounter someone like him, three times over the limit, driving in the dark with no front or rear lights on.”

Defence agent Tommy Allan said Peterson had been working on a house he owns in the South Mainland. A friend had been helping him and, during the course of the evening, they had drunk a number of tins of beer.

Peterson wrongly assumed the alcohol might have passed through his system because of the work they were doing in the house.

He added that Peterson had co-operated fully with the police after being stopped. He had been in custody since the early hours of Sunday morning.

Peterson, he said, had been thinking he may resign from his job with Shetland Arts if he is not dismissed.

“It may well be there are consequences in terms of his job,” said Mr Allan. “He is ashamed he has had to appear for the first time in court in relation to this.”

Sheriff Mann said Peterson had posed “a significant risk to members of the public”, and had given an “incredibly high blood alcohol count”.

However he noted Peterson was appearing as a first offender.

“You should be roundly ashamed of yourself, driving in that condition.”

Peterson can reduce his ban by five months if he completes a drink drivers’ rehabilitation course.