A grieving pensioner got behind the wheel while four times the drink-drive limit – and travelled for 16 miles without noticing police were trying to pull him over.
Douglas Scott was spotted by a worried member of the public driving “erratically” in Peterhead’s South Road on April 15.
After witnesses called the police, officers tracked him down and tried to get him to stop by activating their sirens and blue flashing lights.
But the 68-year-old failed to notice the car and kept driving until he reached Ellon, where the officers finally managed to attract his attention.
When they spoke to Scott they found he was smelling strongly of alcohol and slurring his speech.
And a roadside breath test found he was almost four times the legal alcohol limit.
Yesterday the grandfather appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted driving his Chevrolet Lacetti SX with 83 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.
The legal limit is 22mcg.
He also admitted failing to stop his car on the A90 Peterhead-Ellon road when Constable Kevin Geraghty was signalling for him to pull over.
Representing the first offender yesterday solicitor Duncan Love said his client had been at a funeral on the day of the incident and had been drinking at the reception afterwards.
He said Scott, a training consultant who worked in Peterhead, had lost his wife four years ago and had been struggling to cope.
As a result he had started drinking more often.
Mr Love said Scott was completely unaware the police had been trying to get him to pull over until he reached Ellon. He
said he was not deliberately trying to evade the officers.
He said: “The accused that day in question had attended a funeral for a relative of his late wife’s.
“He has been suffering from bereavement since his wife’s death about four years ago. He has since suffered from depression and turns to alcohol more and more.
“He had a number of drinks at the reception of the funeral. He had some more drinks in the afternoon. He made the rash and stupid decision to go to the office.
“He was on his way home when the police car came along behind him. He has no recollection of the police car following him.
“He did not notice the lights until he arrived in the Ellon area.”
Scott, of 16 Pitdourie Walk, Bucksburn, Aberdeen, was fined a total of £800 and disqualified from driving for a year.