A HIGH-FLYING business executive who sped off while he was seven times the legal alcohol limit after crashing into the same parked car twice has been spared jail for the offence. 

Craig McAleese, 45, faced losing his £7,500 car and being caged for up to a year over his drunken antics in Bishopton.

But he was spared prison and allowed to keep his car this week after a court heard he had turned to alcohol following the loss of his job.

McAleese was sloshed when he twice reversed his Vauxhall Astra into Andrew Mitchell's vehicle in the car park of the Co-op store in the village.

When Mr Mitchell got out to swap insurance details after the bump, he realised McAleese was drunk.

He then told McAleese he was going to call the police.

At this stage, McAleese decided to drive home, where he was nabbed by police a short time later.

McAleese admitted his guilt last month when he appeared in the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court to face a single charge of drink-driving.

He pleaded guilty to driving with 158microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is just 22mcg.

Procurator fiscal depute Colin Wilson said the offence took place at around 5.30pm on January 12 this year.

He added: "Mr McAleese reversed his silver Vauxhall Astra out of a space and into the front near-side wing of Mr Mitchell's vehicle, causing very little damage.

"Andrew Mitchell thereafter exited his vehicle, approached the driver's side of the accused's vehicle, spoke with the accused and informed him of what he had just done.

"The accused stated that he was sorry and agreed to exchange details.

"The accused thereafter drove forward slightly, reversed and again struck Mr Mitchell's vehicle.

"The now accused thereafter apologised to Mr Mitchell and details were exchanged regarding the damage to both vehicles.

"Andrew Mitchell could observe the accused to be under the influence of alcohol and could also smell alcohol coming from within the vehicle.

"At this point, Andrew Mitchell stated that he was going to contact the police."

When police arrived at the crash scene, Mr Mitchell gave them McAleese's insurance details and officers were able to find his home address, in Lamont Avenue, Bishopton, using the Police National Computer.

The officers got there around 6pm and McAleese informed them he had not drank any alcohol in the last 20 minutes - but said he'd had a glass of wine earlier in the evening.

He failed a breath test and was taken to a police station, where tests revealed he was more than seven times the alcohol limit.

Sheriff Colin Pettigrew had called for background reports to be prepared ahead of sentencing and adjourned the case until this week for that to be done.

Defence solicitor Amy Spencer said McAleese had shown "genuine remorse" over his actions, which he "accepts does merit a custodial disposal."

She explained: "He became unemployed in September 2016 and is now on benefits. The family have suffered significant financial difficulties.

"He has an excellent history of work. He has been employed at extremely senior levels and has travelled the world in his employment.

"Being unemployed is not something Mr McAleese is used to.

"He has had an underlying alcohol difficulty for some time, which only really came to the fore after he became unemployed.

"He worked for Weir's Pumps and had 300 people working for him. He then had to pay many of them off and found it very difficult to deal with personally."

The lawyer said that McAleese also lost his job and, as he drank more, it emerged he had a problem, which he is now seeking help for.

As he banned McAleese from driving for 32 months, Sheriff Pettigrew said: "The disqualification should reflect the gravity of the offence, to act as a deterrent and also for the essential element of public protection.

"It seems to me you require to seriously assess your responsibility as a driver."

Sheriff Pettigrew also placed McAleese on a Community Payback Order (CPO), which he said was "an appropriate alternative to a custodial sentence."

The CPO will see McAleese supervised by social workers for 12 months and complete 140 hours of unpaid work in the next nine months.