A pensioner got behind the wheel while almost twice the drink-drive limit after a party which lasted into the early hours.
Elgin Sheriff Court heard that Walter Rose and his partner had been toasting her birthday with a drink at her Forres home on Friday, January 15.
But their celebrations lasted into the following morning, and fiscal Ruaridh McAllister said that 66-year-old Rose’s other half still had reservations about his ability to drive at 4pm that day.
She called the police, who tracked him along Forres’s Grantown Road and St Catherine’s Road before stopping him on Nairn Road.
The retired joiner was unable to give a roadside breath test because of medical difficulties.
And he struggled to complete a police sobriety test because arthritis in his spine prevented him from even attempting certain elements of it.
Eventually a doctor was called to Elgin Police Station to take a sample of Rose’s blood and he was found to be nearly double the legal limit.
Rose, of 17 Twinning Link, Forres, later admitted a charge of driving with excess alcohol.
His lawyer, Brent Lockie, said: “My client’s partner phoned the police, she didn’t think he should be driving.
“He’s held a licence since 1968, and said he felt ok to drive – but these days feeling ok isn’t enough.”
Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov disqualified Rose for a year and fined him £400, but said his ban could be reduced if he completed a drink-driving rehabilitation course.
