A three-times-the-limit drink driver had no licence or insurance when he got his car stuck on a verge at the side of the road.
John Malcolm was caught after flagging down another road user and asking for a tow rope and lift home, a court has heard.
When police caught up with him they noted his red eyes and slow, slurred speech, as well as the fact he had no licence or insurance.
Malcolm, 64, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit charges of drink-driving and driving without a licence or insurance.
Fiscal depute Victoria Silver told the court that on March 26 of this year Malcolm flagged down a member of the public on an unclassified road at Heights of Docharty, near Dingwall.
Drink driver had red eyes and slurred speech
He was standing next to a vehicle which was stuck on the raised verge at the side of the road.
“The accused appeared intoxicated and was asking for a tow rope,” Ms Silver said.
Police were then contacted by a member of the public, who told them he had picked up the accused and dropped him off at his home address.
When officers visited there they found him with “reddening to eyes” and speech that was slurred.
Enquiries revealed that Malcolm had surrendered his licence in 2020 and therefore had no valid insurance.
Testing showed his breath alcohol level to be 77 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath – more than three times the 22mcg limit.
Malcolm’s solicitor, Clare Russell, said he had surrendered his licence after suffering from seizures caused by a tumour in his temporal lobe.
She said: “He has accepted full responsibility and shows a significant degree of remorse.”
‘He has become what he doesn’t like’
Ms Russell said Malcolm “has become what he doesn’t like – a drink driver,” adding that he now acknowledges and is addressing his issue with alcohol.
Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald told Malcolm, of Achterneed, he had no business being behind the wheel on the day in question and said: “You were over three times the limit and you had no licence – this is potentially dangerous behaviour.”
She disqualified him from driving for 12 months and fined him £470.
