Drunk nurse who hit three pedestrians with car outside Buckie nightclub jailed

A clubber who was more than three times over the drink driving limit when he struck three pedestrians with his car has been jailed for four years.

Christopher Parry, 57, had spent part of an evening drinking at the Purple nightclub in Buckie, Moray, before he left in the early hours of September 21, 2024.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how Parry got behind the wheel of his car and attempted to drive off. A fellow clubber noticed he was intoxicated and tried to stop him from leaving.

Parry was confronted by the man who leaned into his car, grabbed him and attempted to remove him from the vehicle and remove the keys from the ignition.

However Parry drove off, causing the victim to fall to the ground, before driving in a circular motion in the car park and narrowly missing the victim.

Parry then momentarily stopped the car in front of a pub when the witness’s wife stepped off the pavement to pull her husband away from the vehicle.

The driver made off to circle the car park a second time and drove directly towards the victim, who was standing on the pavement outside the nightclub. The car then struck the witness’s wife and another man who were also on the pavement, knocking them to the ground.

Parry then drove over the foot of another man standing nearby, causing him to fall backwards onto the ground, before exiting the car park.

Parry, of Cornhill, Aberdeenshire, pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting the victim by driving his car forward at a time when the complainer was leaning into the window.

Parry also then caused his vehicle to mount the pavement and collide with the man again, which was to his “injury and to the danger of his life.”

He also admitted a second charge of culpably and recklessly driving a car at speed, whilst under the influence of alcohol, and causing it to mount the pavement and strike three people. He admitted this caused injury to the man’s wife, severe injury and impairment to the second man and severe injury to the witness.

He also pleaded guilty to a third charge of having 99 micro grammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – the legal limit in Scotland is 22 micro grammes in 100 millilitres of breath.

The court heard that at 2.10am, officers found Parry’s car parked on the A98 road at Castle Terrace in Cullen, Moray.

Officers investigating the accused discovered that he was employed as a nurse practitioner.

He said his intention was he was going to go to the car to sleep off the effects of the alcohol he had consumed earlier in the evening.

The court heard that “the next thing he knew, and it is no criticism of anybody, was that he was being manhandled.

“In his befuddled state, he got it into his head that he was being attacked and had to get away.“

The defence counsel also told the court that Parry no longer drinks at all.

Lady Drummond also banned Parry from driving for six years.