A man caught behind the wheel while more than twice the drink-drive limit claimed the incident arose from a friend leaving him in the car.
Colin Middleton, 45, was travelling in a car on Provost Fraser Drive, Aberdeen, at around 12.10am on September 30 last year when onlookers saw the vehicle being driven erratically and alerted police, Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard.
Officers attended and found Middleton at the wheel. They gave him a breath test which revealed he had 59 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 22 microgrammes.
Middleton, of Middlefield Crescent, Aberdeen, admitted one charge of drink-driving.
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In mitigation, defence agent David Sutherland said: “He was not originally the driver. He had been at a licensed premises with a friend, who had left him alone in the car when it broke down.
“My client then took control of the vehicle and his intention was to push it to the side of the road. It was to this end he was in charge of the vehicle.”
Middleton was banned from driving for three years, ordered to do 225 hours of unpaid work and given a community payback order with a 12-month supervision requirement.
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