A driver who crashed into a roundabout was almost four times the drink-drive limit, a court has heard.
Jacobo Rodriguez had been out for a meal where he drank alcohol before trying to drive home to Ullapool.
Following the incident at the Maryburgh roundabout, Jacobo failed a breath test and was later revealed to be almost four times the legal drink-drive limit.
Rodriguez appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit a single charge of drink-driving in relation to the incident on October 14 of this year.
Fiscal depute Grant McLennan told the court it was just after 10pm when Rodriguez crashed into the roundabout.
He said: “The vehicle driven by the accused was heading downhill towards the roundabout on the A835 at Maryburgh and was travelling at such a speed that there was a collision with the roundabout.”
Crash driver failed breath test
Police attended at the scene, where Rodriguez admitted being the driver and agreed to a roadside breath test, which he failed.
He was taken to Burnett Road Police Station in Inverness, where further testing revealed his blood alcohol level to be 84 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of breath – the legal limit being 22.
Solicitor Clare Russell, for Rodriguez, told the court her client is a Spanish national who has lived in Scotland for seven years.
A ‘stupid’ decision
She said: “On the evening in question, he had been in Inverness. He had a meal, consumed alcohol and made, in his own words, the stupid decision to get behind the wheel and drive back to his accommodation in Ullapool.”
Acknowleging that Rodriguez has a previous drink-driving conviction, Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald told him: “This is not the first time you have decided to get behind the wheel of your car when drunk.”
She continued: “This is a significant reading, four times the limit, or thereabouts. This is a very dangerous thing to do.”
Sheriff MacDonald disqualified Rodriguez, of West Argyll Street, Ullapool, from holding or obtaining a driving licence for two years and fined him £1,040.
