A man who drove uninsured and over the limit has been jailed for seven months.
Lewis Forbes initially refused to provide a breath test when officers traced him following a call from a concerned member of the public.
He also swore at police and repeatedly banged on the inside of the police van as he was taken to Burnett Road Police Station where testing eventually revealed him to be more than twice the drink-drive limit.
Forbes had previously admitted the charges and received a community payback order with 160 hours of unpaid work as well as a disqualification from driving.
But he appeared via videolink from custody to be sentenced again, after failing to complete any of the hours.
Fiscal depute Naomi Duffy-Welsh told the court that the charges date to July 9 last year when Forbes was spotted by a witness driving a yellow Skoda at the Inverness Retail Park.
Driver appeared ‘under the influence’
“He appeared under the influence to the witness,” she said.
Forbes indicated he was heading into the city centre to collect food and appeared “agitated” before leaving.
The alarmed witness contacted police who traced Forbes at the Max’s 2 takeaway in Lombard Street, where another witness had seen him getting out of the driver’s seat of the car.
“The accused approached police and was immediately hostile, behaving in an agitated and aggressive manner. His pupils were enlarged,” Ms Duffy-Welsh said.
A check of the vehicle revealed it was not registered to Forbes and he was not insured to drive it.
The accused would not provide a specimen of breath. When asked why, he told police officers to “f*** off”.
He was taken to Burnett Road Police Station and subsequent testing revealed he had 52 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, more than twice the legal limit of 22 microgrammes.
‘Life starting to unravel’
Solicitor Rory Gowans, for Forbes, said the crimes marked “Mr. Forbes’ life starting to unravel”.
He said that his client was previously disqualified and handed 160 hours of unpaid work but “none of the work has been completed”.
Sheriff Ian Cruickshank revoked the previous community payback order and instead sentenced Forbes, of Windsor Place, Conon Bridge, to seven months imprisonment.
