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| Officer guilty of urine tampering | Officer guilty of urine tampering |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A Grampian Police officer has been found guilty of diluting his urine sample after being stopped for suspected drink-driving. | A Grampian Police officer has been found guilty of diluting his urine sample after being stopped for suspected drink-driving. |
| Police found lager and a kebab when they stopped Sgt Ewan McHardy, 41, after seeing him driving erratically in Elgin. | Police found lager and a kebab when they stopped Sgt Ewan McHardy, 41, after seeing him driving erratically in Elgin. |
| He later sent his own sample for tests, but discrepancies were found. | He later sent his own sample for tests, but discrepancies were found. |
| McHardy was found guilty after a trial at Elgin Sheriff Court. Sentence was deferred until September for reports. | McHardy was found guilty after a trial at Elgin Sheriff Court. Sentence was deferred until September for reports. |
| McHardy was stopped in March 2005. He was breathalysed after two cans of lager and a kebab were seen on the passenger seat and a smell of alcohol was detected on his breath. | |
| McHardy, of Aberdeen, provided a positive reading and was taken to Elgin police station. | |
| However, he claimed he was unable to give two further breath samples because he had a cold. | |
| When a doctor came to take blood, the officer said he was scared of needles and was asked to provide a urine sample instead. | |
| 'Absolute nonsense' | |
| The sample was separated into two parts and put into sealed containers. One was given to McHardy and the other sent to the public analysis laboratory in Aberdeen. | |
| Detectives were told he sent his own sample to the forensic medicine department at Glasgow University later that week. | |
| However, he was later questioned when huge "discrepancies" were found between the two samples. | |
| The reading from the Aberdeen lab sample was far higher than the Glasgow reading. | |
| He told detectives it was "absolute nonsense" that he had any involvement in diluting his urine sample. | |
| However, Sheriff Ian Abercrombie said he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt McHardy was guilty. | |
| He deferred sentence for background reports until 3 September at Inverness Sheriff Court. |