For Drunk Read Sober

A Finnish pilot, Heikki Tallila, arrested at Manchester Airport in August for being over the UK's blood alcohol concentration limit for pilots, has been sentenced to 6 months in prison.

The pilot was found to have 49mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, against a legal limit of 20mg.

Most of the news reports describe him as having been 'drunk'.

But the UK limit for car drivers is 80mg. As a car driver the pilot would not have been considered drunk, not by a long way.

Heikki Tallila may have exceeded the 20mg limit, but was that violation really so serious that it warranted a prison sentence, let alone one of 6 months?

Do readers of this blog consider themselves drunk after a glass of wine?

Would Judge John Burke, QC, who sentenced Heikki Tallila, consider himself drunk on 49mg? Or the police who arrested him? Or the prison staff who keep him?

Does our legal system promote justice or injustice?

Is it staffed by decent men, or hypocrites just 'doing their jobs'?