A DALMUIR teenager has been spared jail – but hit with a hefty fine and a lengthy motoring ban – for driving while five times the legal alcohol limit.

Kai McDougall also flouted a curfew when he got behind the wheel in the early hours of the morning.

The 19-year-old was banned from driving for more than two years when he appeared in court on Friday after pleading guilty to breaching a special bail condition and committing four separate motoring offences, including drink-driving, driving without a licence and driving without insurance.

Dumbarton Sheriff Court heard that a resident of Durban Avenue received a phone call at 4.10am on November 27, when he was told his vehicle, which was parked on the street outside his home, had been involved in an accident.

Ian Meacock, prosecuting, said the resident could see the aftermath of a collision, while he noticed McDougall standing in the street.

The accused called his mum at 4.15am and she attended and found her son standing in the street. He gave her the car keys and left before the police arrived and found the car in the middle of the road.

McDougall’s mother, Ms Meacock said, told police: “I think it was my son who was driving.”

McDougall was found at the family’s home in Dumbarton Road at around 5.15am, when a breath test procedure was carried out and a reading of 110 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath – well above the limit of 22 microgrammes – was recorded.

Brian McGuire, defending, said McDougall had been released on bail, with a curfew, on October 16 in connection with an unrelated matter.

Mr McGuire said: “He was clearly drinking to excess. Then he left the house and drove in this fashion.

“It’s bad enough that he breaches the special bail condition, but he compounds that considerably by the further offences.

“His mother was far from impressed with the situation and he’s had to work hard to get back into the good books. He’s fortunate that nothing worse happened.

“He’s not stupid. He knows the seriousness of his position. While it cannot be disputed that custody is an option, I would submit that an appropriate disposal would be the imposition of a community payback order.”

In addition to the 28-month driving ban, Sheriff Gerard MacMillan imposed a total fine of £1,200 and placed McDougall under social work supervision for 12 months as part of a community payback order.

The sheriff also imposed a restriction of liberty order which will confine McDougall to his Dumbarton Road home between 7pm and 6am for the next six months.

Sheriff MacMillan told McDougall: “You stand in very acute danger of going off the rails and leading a life which will lead you to prison.

“I’ve had to think very carefully about whether or not to send you to jail for this. If you appear in court again we will have run out of options.”