Whisky shop manager has personal licence suspended for six months

The manager of a whisky shop has had his personal licence suspended for six months after a councillor said he was ‘disturbed’ by his explanation of a drink-driving incident.

Johannes Van Der Wal, of the Old School House in Kilninver, is due to be sentenced in August after pleading guilty at Oban Sheriff Court earlier this year to charges of drink-driving and careless driving.

Following the two-car crash, Mr Van Der Wal supplied police with a breath sample which found he was almost five times the limit of 22 microgrammes.

He appeared before Argyll and Bute licensing board via Skype on Tuesday, June 23, for a review of his personal licence.

He said: ‘I apologise to the board and to the chief constable for taking time today and breaching licensing objectives.

‘On November 15, I made a terrible mistake. I ignored the fact I had had alcohol and decided to drive home.

‘November 15 was a particularly quiet day and I decided to catch up with sampling some new additions from the past couple of weeks.

‘Some were high alcohol and so the alcohol built up quicker in my body. I believe the reason I had that level of alcohol was that over the last few years I would have built up a certain tolerance. I am, to this day, very angry with myself for letting this happen, not only for myself but for the other driver and the people I have let down.’

Board chairman Councillor David Kinniburgh said: ‘I am a bit disturbed by some of the things you have said here today. You say that you have built up a tolerance – that implies to me that this hasn’t been a one-off. To me, it is just extraordinary that it never crossed your mind that you weren’t fit enough to drive on November 15. Surely you would have been in such a state that it was perfectly obvious to you with the training you have had, or will have had?’

Mr Van Der Wal replied: ‘I believe I only discovered this after November 15, but I believe my tolerance built up over time. I can only agree with the fact that I did not think. I can only put it to the fact that I was caught in various small tastings and the excitement of it... small samples over a period of time – that is where the mistake happened.’

Mr Van Der Wal later said he remembered having five ‘sample cups’ over the course of the day, four of which were between 55 and 60 per cent ABV.

After the licensing board went into a private discussion with all other parties removed from the Skype call, Mr Van Der Wal was advised that his licence was suspended until the end of December.