A drugged-up dad who drove after taking a mystery pill which left him with blue lips has been banned from the road and handed a curfew.
Stuart Hunt, 39, drove his black Vauxhall Astra in the Halfords car park in Elgin after taking medication and a mystery blue pill which left him unsteady on his feet, drowsy and slurring his speech.
Fiscal depute Naomi Duffy-Welsh previously told Elgin Sheriff Court how police barricaded Hunt’s car in the Lossie Wynd North car park to confront him after receiving an anonymous tip-off about him at 11am on July 2 2020.
“The anonymous caller seemed to believe the driver to be intoxicated,” she said. “Police attended and used their vehicle to block the exit of the car park from Halfords to stop the vehicle from leaving.
Blue mouth and tongue
“They noticed the driver was unsteady on his feet.
“He had blue residue around his mouth and his tongue and lips were blue.
“He was slurring his words and had very slow speech when he told police he had taken prescribed medication but nothing else.”
‘I was an idiot’
He later told police officers: “I’m really sorry. I was an idiot for not taking my medication at a time when I was safe to drive.”
Hunt, pled guilty to a charge of driving while unfit through drink or drugs.
His defence agent Grant Dalglish said his client takes prescribed medication after a workplace accident, which nearly cost him his life two years ago and left him suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.
He said Hunt had taken a mystery pill from three men who were in his car.
‘He didn’t know what it was’
“He didn’t know them and he has not seen them since,” Mr Dalglish told the court. “One of these males gave him a blue tablet. He didn’t know what it was.
“It’s a situation where he has taken something at face value. He didn’t know what it was and admits he made a mistake.”
After considering background reports and previous convictions, sheriff Robert McDonald banned Hunt, of Braeview Road, Buckpool, from the roads for 16 months.
He also handed him a six-month curfew and supervision for the same period of time.
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