A man spotted driving erratically on a Black Isle road has admitted being unfit to drive through drink or drugs.
Road users alerted the police after Paul McSorley nearly collided with a harbour wall on the A832.
Officers found his car with the bonnet still warm outside a house. McSorley was found inside the property noticeably under the influence of alcohol.
McSorely, 60, was not present at Inverness Sheriff Court where solicitor Neil Wilson entered a guilty plea on his behalf to a single charge of driving whilst unfit through drink or drugs.
Man’s driving was ‘highly erratic’
Fiscal depute Naomi Duffy-Welsh told the court that on October 9 last year at around 10.30pm witnesses alerted the police to a Ford Ranger which was being driven in a “highly erratic” manner on the A832 between Fortrose and Avoch.
“They advised that they observed the vehicle almost collide with the harbour wall,” Ms Duffy-Welsh told the court.
As the witnesses believed that the driver may be inebriated they contacted police and passed on an address where the vehicle was now parked outside.
‘The bonnet was still warm’
Officers visited the address and found the vehicle.
“The bonnet was still warm to touch and the engine was ticking as if recently switched off,” said Ms Duffy-Welsh.
McSorely, who a Police National Computer (PNC) check revealed to be the registered keeper of the pick-up truck, was found within the property and was “observed to be highly intoxicated”.
He told officers: “I drove the vehicle then, yes.”
He was taken to Burnett Road Police Station where he was cautioned and charged.
Speaking on behalf of his absent client, Mr Wilson told the court that the behaviour was “out of character” for McSorley, a retired civil servant.
Sheriff David Nicolson fined McSorley, of High Street, Fortrose, £245 and banned him from the roads for 12 months.
