A FORMER council chief executive caught downing gin and tonic at the wheel has been cleared of a drink driving offence after persuading a court he was only in the car to charge his iPhone.

Ex-professional footballer and club manager Ian Stewart was in the driver's seat with the engine running while nearly four times over the legal alcohol limit.

He had poured himself a glass of gin and tonic but claimed he had only been in the motor - parked outside his own home - to charge the battery on his mobile phone.

A sheriff told the former Bradford District Council and Cambridgeshire County Council chief executive that he was persuaded he had "no likelihood of driving" and cleared him of the charge.

Stewart, 68, played for a host of clubs in senior football including Dundee United and Forfar, and later managed Montrose, Arbroath and Brechin.

Yesterday at Perth Sheriff Court, he said he had gone shopping for tins of soup, cheese, and gin and tonic, before getting into his car to charge his iPhone.

He said he had left his normal charger with his girlfriend Moira Timmins and had no other way of keeping the phone working. He said he cracked open the gin and poured himself a drink because his BMW took a long time to charge the phone.

The court was told that the engine was running and the lights were on, but it was switched off just as police arrived to find out what was happening.

Stewart, of Morris Court, Perth, failed a roadside breath test and accepted his reading was 120 mics, compared to the limit on October 30 last year of 35 mics of alcohol per 100 ml of breath.

Stewart said: "I walked back to my car to charge my phone. I needed it to get in touch with my solicitor about my divorce. I had left my charger in Edinburgh.

"I have never had a drink problem. I have been the driver for friends throughout my life. I don't drink and drive and I'm ashamed to be here today.

"It was a very slow charge in the car. I never saw the police arriving. I switched the car off because I had 30 per cent charge in it. I poured myself a gin and tonic while the phone was charging."

He told the court he had been drinking because he was depressed about the divorce proceedings which saw him lose the house he designed and built in Spain.

"I started in the civil service after I was a professional footballer," he said. "I was chief executive of Bradford District Council, the fourth biggest authority in the UK. I was headhunted for Cambridgeshire County Council and started my own business after that."

Ms Timmins, 64, told the court she had been in a relationship with Stewart for 18 months and had never seen him drink and drive.

The court was told that the police were handed Stewart's phone from his pocket when he was sitting in the back of their vehicle. He was accused of being drunk in charge of his vehicle.

Sheriff Christopher Shead cleared Stewart and said: "The court is satisfied it can accept his essential account as credible and the defence is made out. Against that background, the court finds you not guilty."