A SHERIFF described the actions of a partially-sighted Dalmuir man who drove while under the influence of diazepam as“nothing short of lunacy”.

Police officers on the A82 watched on as Paul Rooney got out of his car and then fell on to its bonnet on March 1 this year.

The officers suspected that Rooney, who lives in Scott Street, may have been under the influence of drink or drugs but when they spoke to him he showed no tell-tale signs of alcohol consumption.

The 43-year-old had been driving on the west bound carriageway of the A82 when he was spotted by the cops near Dalnottar Cemetery at around 8.45am that day.

The circumstances of the incident were outlined when Rooney appeared at Dumbarton Sheriff Court to be sentenced for the offence.

Fiscal depute Jeanette McLean told the court that police were travelling in a vehicle when they noticed a Volkswagen car that Rooney was driving swerving about the road. Then when Rooney got out of the car and attempted to walk to the side of the road he fell on to the bonnet of the motor.

Two police traffic officers also attended the scene, they conducted a search and discovered Rooney was in possession of a full packet of the tranquilizing drug diazepam.

Rooney’s solicitor Brian McGuire told the court that his client was partially blind and that his eyesight was set to further deteriorate. The solicitor said: “At the time he was suffering considerable stress because of the health of his father and because of his eyesight. Subsequently his father has died and he has had an operation on his eye.

“There is no prospect of him driving again. His eyesight is deteriorating and he has been told he will eventually go blind.”

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry told Rooney: “You must now know that given your eyesight and the drugs it was nothing short of lunacy for you to be driving a car. However, the court does have some degree of sympathy.”

The sheriff ordered Rooney to complete 80 hours of unpaid work in the community within six months. He was also fined £125 for possessing the class C drug diazepam, disqualified from driving or holding a licence for three years and ordered to sit an extended driving test before being able to obtain a licence in the future.