- The father-of-two, 37, was involved in a collision near his stately home in April.
- The 14th Earl of Haddington was more than twice the drink-drive limit at the time.
An aristocrat has been banned from driving after being involved in a crash while over twice the alcohol limit.
The 14th Earl of Haddington was involved in an accident near his Mellerstain estate, Gordon, Berwickshire, on the evening of April 12 and police were called to the scene.
Jedburgh Sheriff Court heard the 37-year-old father-of-two was identified as the driver of one of the vehicles involved in the collision on the A6105. When police asked him who was driving a Volvo, he replied “Me.”
Lord Haddington gave an alcohol and blood sample which contained 126 milligrams – the legal limit is 50 – and told police he had consumed “homemade measures of whisky”.
He pleaded guilty to driving a vehicle while over the alcohol limit, and pleaded not guilty to driving without L plates while holding a provisional license and without insurance accepted by the Crown.
The 14th Earl of Haddington was involved in an accident near his Mellerstain estate (pictured), Gordon, Berwickshire, on the evening of April 12.
But Sheriff Peter Paterson said he treated this as a drink-driving charge and banned him from the roads for 12 months and fined him £500 with a £20 victim surcharge.
He was charged under his full name of George Edmund Baldred Haddington, his address being Mellerstain House, near Gordon.
Defense barrister Graeme Runcie said his client was a first offender and described his profession as a “land manager”.
He said Lord Haddington had had a “pretty difficult year” and had to “work out some of his problems”.
Mr Runcie said Lord Haddington had “satisfactory means to meet any financial penalty imposed by the court”.
Sheriff Paterson also certified Lord Haddington fit for the drink-driving rehabilitation course, which would result in a 25 per cent reduction on the one-year ban if completed at his own expense.
Educated at Eton College and the University of Glasgow, where he graduated in media arts and computing, he became the 14th Earl in 2016 after the death of his father who left a fortune of £34 million.
Mellerstain House, designed by Robert Adam in the 17th century, contains works by artists such as Gainsborough.
