A military man from Moray has been banned from the roads after being involved in a crash while drunk behind the wheel.
Police were called to the A96 Aberdeen to Inverness road near Forres on December 11 last year following reports of a collision at the junction with the B9011 Findhorn road.
Yesterday Cameron Hood, who is stationed at Kinloss Barracks, admitted being more than three times over the limit behind the wheel of his BMW at the time when he appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court.
Fiscal David Morton said: “Mr Hood was identified by the other party who had been crashed into by him, they had spoken to each other prior to the police’s arrival.
“It was obvious to the police officers there was a smell of alcohol coming from Mr Hood and accordingly required him to provide a specimen of breath.”
Further tests done at Elgin police station later established that the 23-year-old had 70 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 mililitres of breath – the legal limit is 22 mcg.
When asked by Sheriff Gary Aitken whether he had anything to say about the circumstances that led to the accident Hood, who was representing himself in court, said: “No, I don’t think so.”
Sheriff Aitken added: “It’s exceptionally foolish to drive a car when you have been drinking, certainly when it is to the extent that you must have been.”
Hood, who lives on the Kinloss base, was banned from driving for 14 months, fined £800 and ordered to pay a £40 victim support surcharge after pleading guilty to the drink driving charge.