A driver killed a friend in a horror smash – having hit 125mph on his way to pick him up for work.
Martin Cameron, 25, was travelling to work with Shaun Allan when he lost control of his bright orange Ford Focus south of Inverness.
A judge heard Cameron had previously been banned from the road three times in just five years.
He got his licence back about two months before the fatal crash.
Cameron is now behind bars after yesterday admitting causing his 26-year-old friend’s death by dangerous driving.
He will be sentenced later this month.
Advocate depute Allan Nicol, prosecuting, told the High Court in Glasgow that Cameron got his licence in 2011. His most recent ban was in 2016.
He was then back on the road in February last year after re-sitting his driving test.
Both Cameron and Mr Allan, who left behind a partner and young daughter, worked for the same construction company.
Another person had been due to collect them on the morning of the crash In May last year.
But, when the other person failed to show, Cameron fatefully decided to take his car instead.
As he went to collect Mr Allan, he was clocked at more than double the 60mph limit.
Mr Nicol: “He had driven…at an average speed of 125mph. CCTV existed of the vehicle passing about 20 minutes before the incident.”
After picking up Shaun, Cameron drove on the rural B851 towards their site in Farr.
Witnesses noticed the distinctive car “flying past” at “quite a speed”.
He is thought to have been going between 60-70mph in a 40mph zone.
A man living nearby heard a “very large noise” as Cameron’s car spun out of control.
The Ford smashed through the fence of a house and hurtled through the air before crashing into trees.
The car eventually came to rest in the garden of the property.
The court heard that Cameron, of Kiltarlity, Inverness-shire, asked a witness for help getting out the car.
Mr Allan was found “slumped” in the passenger seat.
He was taken to hospital, but suffered a cardiac arrest in the back of the ambulance and died shortly afterwards from his injuries.
Cameron suffered fractures to his leg and wrist.
He later handed himself in to police, but made no comment when questioned by officers.
Mr Nicol said: “In their report, collision investigators state that responsibility lies solely with the driver of the Ford Focus.”
Cameron’s lawyer Geoffrey Forbes said his client had expressed the “deepest regret and sorrow” for what happened.
Judge Lord Kinclaven remanded Cameron in custody as sentence was deferred until October 30 in Edinburgh.