A drink-driver who stole a lorry and then crashed it into a ditch has been banned from the road for three years.
Peter MacLeod appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday for sentencing having previously pled guilty to a string of charges over the incident.
The 40-year-old claimed his drink had been spiked before stealing the lorry.
MacLeod admitted stealing the lorry at Kennedy Transport Centre, Sevenoaks, Newmachar, on August 6 last year.
And he also admitted driving the vehicle with 63 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath on an unclassified road between Newmachar and Fintray, near Roadside Steading in Fintray – when the legal limit is 22 microgrammes.
MacLeod further pled guilty to driving a lorry without a licence permitting him to drive heavy goods vehicles and without insurance. He further admitted failing to give a police officer the identity of the driver.
Depute fiscal Alan Townsend said: “MacLeod was seen on CCTV at around 5am in the centre entering a lorry which was unlocked. He drove it through the main gates of the yard and made off in the direction of Newmachar.”
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Mr Townsend said at around 5.30am a witness overheard a “grinding” sound coming from outside his property and “observed there had been a collision between a dry stone dyke and the lorry”.
Police were called and traced MacLeod 900m away.
Defence agent Alex Burn said his client had had a “difficult upbringing” and suffered a bereavement which had affected him.
He said: “He suspected his drink had been spiked due to the smell and taste.
“He then embarks upon this lunacy by taking this vehicle. He drives the vehicle into a ditch.”
Sheriff Michael Anderson told MacLeod, of Fowler Avenue, Aberdeen, to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and pay a fine of £500. He also gave him an 18-month supervision order and a three-year driving ban.
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