A senior advocate has been fined an effective R5 000 or three months in jail for driving under the influence of alcohol.
|||The senior advocate who made headlines last year after he ran over Western Cape Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso with a golf cart has been fined an effective R5 000 or three months in jail for driving under the influence of alcohol in a separate matter.
Robert McDougall SC was fined R10 000 or six months in prison, of which R5 000 or three months was suspended for the next three years.
McDougall, whose blood-alcohol level was four times the legal limit, pleaded guilty to the charges in the Wynberg magistrate’s court.
McDougall was expected to plead to the charges on Thursday but, according to court documents, he said he had been informed by his lawyer that he should be at court on Wednesday – a day earlier than the scheduled date – and asked that the case be finalised.
In his plea, McDougall admitted that he had had lunch with friends on January 31 and had “not carefully considered the liquor that I was consuming”. When he decided to go home, he drove his Mercedes Benz on Ladies Mile.
“I knew to drive my motor vehicle on a public road… whilst under the influence of intoxicating liquor is a criminal offence and that, if I was stopped, I would be prosecuted,” McDougall said in his plea.
“I nevertheless proceeded to drive home knowing that I had consumed too much liquor and it did impair my driving ability.”
He drove to a petrol station and while parking struck two vehicles, causing slight damage. The police were informed and McDougall was arrested.
In mitigation of sentence, McDougall’s advocate Pete Mihalik said his client was unmarried, had worked for the Department of Justice since 1970 and was also a member of the Cape Bar.
“He is embarrassed by what he did and deeply remorseful. He is also a first offender at the age of 68,” Mihalik said.
McDougall asked under oath that his licence not be suspended as he needed to drive to work every day and would have difficulty getting to the train station about 5km from his home.
In the end, McDougall’s licence was not suspended.
McDougall, who acted as a judge on the Western Cape High Court bench, accidentally struck Traverso with a golf cart during a game at the Royal Cape Golf Club in September. - Cape Argus
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