Driver banned after box of chocolate liquers put him two-and-a-half times over drink-drive limit

A man has been banned from the road after eating a box of chocolate liqueurs that pushed him over the legal drink-drive limit. Aivis Terps was pulled over by police on his way home after a party in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire. The breathalyser reading showed he was nearly two-and-a-half the limit.

But the 27-year-old told police he had not had a drop to drink and could not explain the high reading. He claimed it later dawned on him that his system had been affected by several luxury chocolates he had eaten while at a party. The treats were described as being the equivalent of a shot of vodka each.



Terps, from Peterhead, had been at a friend’s home during the evening of 6 April. At about 2am, police arrived at the property following complaints from a neighbour about the noise. 
Police told him and others in the flat not to drive home if they had been drinking. A short time later, they recognised Terps’s car, and the accused was pulled over. Terps, who moved to Scotland from Latvia in 2008, admitted driving with excess alcohol.

His lawyer told the court: “He knew he had been eating liqueurs but he wasn’t drinking that night. These chocolates were about the size of bulbs and contained a high level of alcohol.” At Peterhead Sheriff Court, Sheriff Richard McFarlane told Terps: “This is a significant drink-driving offence that you have committed. The breath-alcohol level is comfortably over twice the permitted amount. The source of the alcohol is of no notice or relevance to me.” The father of one was fined £450 and banned from driving for 20 months.