A man who was found slumped in the front seat of his car with a syringe in his hand has been banned from the roads for six months.
Lewis Cameron had completed a shift at work when colleagues spotted him in the vehicle on Craig Road, Dingwall.
When they shook him awake he handed over the keys to the vehicle and told them he had not been planning to drive.
Cameron, 44, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court for sentencing having pled guilty by letter to a charge of being in charge of a vehicle whilst unfit through drink or drugs.
He also admitted possession of the class A drug methadone.
Fiscal depute Emily Hood told the court: “Mr Cameron had arrived that day at work and completed the shift as normal.
“Around 3pm staff walked past his vehicle and noticed he was in the front seat of his vehicle.
“His extended left arm was holding a syringe, which had a bent needle at the end.”
When Cameron did not initially respond to them, the witnesses shook him awake.
‘Heavily sweating’ with ‘slurred speech’
He was “heavily sweating” and his “speech was slurred”.
“He handed over the vehicle keys and told them he was not intending to drive,” Ms Hood told Sheriff Gary Aitken.
Police had been made aware and when they arrived a search recovered a bottle from Cameron’s pocket.
“The accused said it was methadone. It was not prescribed to him,” Ms Hood said.
Subsequent testing revealed that Cameron was above the legal drug limit.
Cameron, of Wards Drive, Muir of Ord, appeared without legal representation.
He told Sheriff Gary Aitken that his licence had been revoked by the DVLA in the interim.
Sheriff Aitken fined Cameron £520 and issued him with 10 penalty points – which resulted in a six-month disqualification under the totting-up procedure.