Former Falkirk bar manager keeps licence after failing to report drink driving offence

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A former bar manager who has worked in hospitality for "half his life" was given a warning for failing to disclose a drink driving conviction but allowed to keep his licence.

Alastair Black, 32, - who previously ran The Wheatsheaf in Falkirk along with his father - appeared in front of Falkirk Council 's Licensing Board on Wednesday where he apologised for failing to notify them of his conviction.

Police Sergeant Derek Simpson told the board that Mr Black had been spotted driving erratically by two police officers on patrol, at 1.15 am on September 20 last year. Read more: Falkirk councillors give green light to Polmont site with 500 new houses Officers reported seeing the car he was driving accelerating sharply, then braking suddenly and swerving before the police finally stopped him near Beancross Farm on the A9.Mr Black failed a roadside breath test and further tests revealed he was more than three times the legal limit.He was convicted on June 29 this year, receiving an £800 fine and was disqualified from driving until next September.As a personal licence holder, Mr Black should have notified the licencing board within one month of his conviction but he failed to do so.

Addressing the board, he apologised for not telling them, saying his solicitor had not informed him that he needed to.He added that his actions has been "indefensible" and he had made "a poor, poor judgement call".However, he asked the licencing board to consider letting him keep his licence which they have the power to revoke, suspend or endorse.Mr Black told the board that he was "dealing with the consequences of that evening still" and that in the long run it had "changed my life for the better"."I feel like I've got a lot left to offer the