What not to do if u get flashed at a s/camera.
Seen this maniac in my local rag......
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</TD></TR><TR><TD>& put on probation
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>By Robert Fairburn
</TD></TR></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>A RAGING drink-driver who used a tow rope to pull a speed camera out of the ground has been banned from driving.
Stefano Barbieri was so angry after being flashed by the camera he decided to tear it down.
As his wife and three children slept in the Mercedes, he tied a rope around it before driving off.
But when Barbieri was nabbed by police minutes later, they told him there was no film in the camera.
They also found he was three times the drink-drive limit.
Since the offence, the 57-year-old has been sacked from his job as a long-distance lorry driver.
At Selkirk Sheriff Court yesterday, Barbieri pleaded guilty to vandalising the speed camera and drink-driving. He was banned from the roads for four years and ordered to carry out 240 hours of community service.
As well as being placed on probation for two years, he was ordered to pay £1000 compensation for the damage to the speed camera.
Barbieri, who lives in Carlisle, was driving home from a party in Haddington, East Lothian, last month when he was flashed by the camera at 2am on the A68 near Earlston, Berwickshire.
Procurator fiscal Tony Bonnar told the court that Barbieri stopped his car after activating the speed camera.
He reversed and parked on the verge then tied the rope around the camera. Mr Bonnar said: 'He had returned to damage it.'
A resident, thinking there had been an accident, went to investigate, only to see Barbieri drive off.
When stopped by police, Barbieri had a breath- alcohol reading of 100. The legal limit is 35.
The court was told that he had a previous conviction for drink-driving in 1996.
Mark Harrower, defending, said: 'He has expressed his regret and fully co-operated with the police.
'He has a drink problem and drink was behind the commission of the vandalism offence.'
Counselling Mr Harrower said Barbieri would be willing to sell his only asset his G-reg Mercedes worth £750 to pay for the damage.
He added his client had taken steps to tackle his drink problem by getting counselling.
Passing sentence, Sheriff Grant McCulloch stressed that not sending Barbieri to prison did not mean the court condoned vandalism.
He added: 'People who take the law into their own hands and effectively uproot speed cameras are not to be encouraged.'
Barbieri refused to comment as he left the court and was driven off in his Mercedes
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