A student who sat in his car after losing his jacket and keys was technically guilty of drink-driving when he drunkenly released the handbrake.
Laaz Fakey rolled forward “two or three feet” before reapplying the brake – but that was enough to be guilty of the offence in the eyes of the law.
The 25-year-old engineering student had been on a night out in Aberdeen city centre but returned to his car on Windmill Brae after losing his jacket and keys.
Without the keys, he would have been unable to start the vehicle’s engine but the car did roll forward slightly when he drunkenly released the handbrake.
‘That is the extent of the driving’
Fiscal depute Georgia Laird told Aberdeen Sheriff Court police CCTV operators alerted officers to a “possible drink-driver” around 2.30am on March 23.
When officers arrived, they found Fakey inside the car with his seatbelt on and the lights on, however he said he had no intention of driving.
Defence agent Graham Morrison said his client did not have an underlying issue with alcohol but had been out drinking at an event that night.
He said: “In the course of the evening out he loses his jacket with his car keys in it.
“He goes back to the car and sits in the car.
“He’s let the handbrake off and the car has rolled two or three feet.
“That is the extent of the driving.”
Fakey, of University Road, Aberdeen, pled guilty to driving with 98 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 22 microgrammes.
Sheriff Andrew Miller said: “These are quite unusual circumstances. They do amount, in law, however, to driving.”
He fined Fakey £220 and disqualified him for a year.
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