A drink-driver who swerved into the opposite carriageway on the A9 told police it was because he was trying to answer a phone call from his wife.
Kamil Rupik’s grey BMW was seen crossing the centre line on the single carriageway road between Delny and Tomich, north of Invergordon, causing police to switch on their blue lights and pull him over.
When officers spoke to the driver he indicated that he had been trying to answer a phone call, but a roadside breath test showed he was more than three times the limit.
Rupik pled guilty to a single charge of drink-driving, relating to the incident on the first of this month, at Tain Sheriff Court.
Fiscal depute Robyn Macleod told the court that the offence took place around 11.30pm.
She said: “They were travelling behind a dark grey BMW when they noticed the vehicle swerve over the centre white line.
Three times the limit
“The police noted it to be almost entirely entering the opposite carriageway. As such police witnesses activated the blue lights to signal for the vehicle to stop.”
Rupik, 37, told the officers he had been trying to answer his mobile before they stopped him.
“The accused indicated that the had been trying to receive a phone call from his wife and pointed to a mobile phone in the centre console,” said Ms Macleod.
Officers carried out a roadside breath test, which Rupik failed. Subsequent tests showed his breath alcohol reading to be 79 micrograms per 100 mililitres of breath, the legal limit being 22mcg.
Solicitor Laura-Jane MacFarlane said her client had been visiting a friend on the day in question.
Drink-driving was a ‘mistake’
“He had consumed a few beers and made the mistake of getting in his car to drive home.”
She said Rupik’s job at a cheese factory could be in jeopardy as a result of his guilty plea, adding “he has accepted responsibility at the earliest opportunity”.
Sheriff Gary Aitken said his sentencing took into account the “high reading” and also Rupik’s early guilty plea.
He fined Rupik, of Station Court, Alness, £640 and disqualified him from driving for 12 months.
