A driver spotted swerving between carriageways on the A9 was more than four times the drink-drive limit.
Martin Mackenzie, 50, was stopped by police who spotted his black Mitsubishi crossing the central lane markings on the trunk road.
He failed a roadside breath test and further testing revealed his breath alcohol level to be 104 microgrammes per 100 millilitres – the legal limit being 22 microgrammes.
Mackenzie appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit charges of careless driving and drink-driving in relation to the incident on April 29 of this year.
Fiscal depute Shay Treanor told the court it was around 2.55am when officers on mobile patrol came up behind Mackenzie’s vehicle, which was travelling between 40 and 45 miles per hour.
He said the vehicle was “swerving between two carriageways and crossing the central lane markings.”
“Owning to his driving, police stopped him and carried out the standard checks, including the breathalyser.”
High breath alcohol level
The court heard that Mackenzie failed the roadside breath test and was taken to Burnett Road Police Station where further testing revealed his high breath alcohol level.
Solicitor Graham Mann, for Mackenzie, told the court: “He had put himself in some difficulty. His driving was very poor, his judgement was very poor at the time.”
Mr Mann explained that Mackenzie had been suffering from “significant” nerve pain at the time of the incident and as a result had become “dependent” on alcohol.
He said Mackenzie’s actions on the day were as a result of a “very poor thought process”.
A9 drink-driver’s car seized
The court heard that unemployed Mackenzie’s car, which was seized following the incident, would be returned to him.
Mr Mann said: “It is his intention to sell the car,” to which Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald replied: “He might have to do that to pay off his fine.”
Sheriff MacDonald banned Mackenzie, of Camden Street, Evanton, from the roads for two years and fined him £840.
She told him: “I would not have liked to have been driving on that road on that day when you were driving.”
