A serviceman who drove his car after a marathon drinking session wound up trapped in the vehicle after it overturned on the A96.
Jamie Kelly rolled his car on the Forres-to-Elgin road following a full night and morning of drinking on his return to Kinloss barracks after Christmas leave.
It took the help of multiple bystanders to drag the 32-year-old from the upturned car at around 7.30pm on January 9 last year, Elgin Sheriff Court was told.
Fiscal depute Emma MacEwan said witnesses travelling eastbound on the busy road had to take evasive action after coming across a bumper lying in the middle of the road.
After they stopped to clear the obstruction and drag it onto the roadside they noticed Kelly’s car on its roof on the verge close to the junction with Kinloss and Alves.
Bystanders stopped to help trapped and ‘wobbly’ driver
“They observed damage to the front of the car with the bumper removed from the vehicle,” she said. “It had scratches and dents leading them to believe it had rolled.
“They attended to assist the driver who was inside and trying to open the door.
“He was mumbling and moaning and said he was stuck. He was complaining of back pain but they couldn’t see how he was stuck as there was no obvious obstruction.”
Other drivers arrived at the scene and between them, they managed to free Kelly from the vehicle.
“The accused was reluctant to talk at the time however when he did it was noted his speech was slurred.
“He was helped from the vehicle. He couldn’t support himself, was unsteady when walking and was smelling of alcohol. His speech was incoherent and he appeared to be wobbling at the side of the road.”
Police arrived and Kelly was taken to Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin before he was cautioned and charged.
He admitted driving while unfit through drink or drugs.
Thought he’d ‘slept it off’
The serviceman’s defence agent, Matthew O’Neill, said Kelly had just returned back to the base following his Christmas leave.
He’d started drinking in his room around midnight and hadn’t stopped until the “late hours of the morning”.
Mr O’Neill said: “He has gone to sleep in his room, woke up later in the day and felt that he had slept off the alcohol. Clearly, that was not the case. He should have had a better understanding of that.
“He took himself to his vehicle to go purchase some food and had not got far into that endeavour before this incident occurred.”
‘You should have known better’
The court heard that Kelly may face further punishment back at his barracks, too.
Sheriff Robert McDonald fined Kelly, of Kinloss Barracks, Kinloss, £640 and banned him from the road for one year.
He deemed the airman suitable for a drink-driver rehabilitation scheme which, if completed, could reduce that ban period by three months.
“You should have known you were not fit to drive,” the sheriff told him.
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