A man has been banned from the roads after he wrapped his car around a tree while nearly four times the drink-drive limit.
Nicol Petrie, 46, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted drinking following his shift as a night manager and then trying to drive home.
Petrie crashed on Skene Street, Aberdeen, in the early hours of the morning.
When people arrived on the scene, they noticed Petrie’s blue Renault was badly damaged and his speech was slurred.
Onlookers believed accused was drunk
Fiscal depute Victoria Kerr told the court that at around 5am on May 5 this year members of the public heard a loud crashing sound from a street nearby.
Upon exiting their property, they saw Petrie’s car wrapped around the trunk of a tree and parts of it scattered across the road.
“Due to the accused’s slurred speech, they formed the opinion that he was intoxicated,” Mr Kerr said.
Petrie then took part in a roadside breath test, which he failed and was taken into custody.
When breathalysed at Kitybrewster Police Station, Petrie gave a reading of 85 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 22mcg.
In the dock, Petrie pleaded guilty to one charge of being in charge of a motor vehicle while over the legal limit to drive.
‘Poor decision’
Defence solicitor Lynn Bentley told the court that her client worked as a night manager and had “unwisely” decided to go to a friend’s house and drink after getting off early.
“He was then unable to get a taxi and made the poor decision to get in his car and drive home,” she said.
Ms Bentley then went on to tell the court that as a result of the crash, Petrie’s car was a write-off, costing him somewhere between £2,000 and £3,000.
Sheriff David Sutherland banned Petrie, of Mugiemoss Road, Aberdeen, from driving for 16 months and ordered him to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work.
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