An uninsured driver who had been drinking fled from police and hid in a skip.
Toby Crace-Eales had already failed a roadside breath test when he got out of the police car and ran away.
He tried to conceal himself inside a waste skip but was found by officers who took him to the police station, where he failed to provide a further sample
Crace-Eales, 31, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit charges of driving without insurance and failing to provide a sample of breath when required to do so.
He also pled guilty to resisting, obstructing or hindering officers in the execution of their duty by opening the door of a police vehicle, fleeing on foot and concealing himself in a skip.
Fiscal depute Victoria Silver said it was just before 1.30pm on November 14 when officers on mobile patrol on Harbour Road in Inverness noticed some issues with the grey Volkswagen they were following.
The police stopped the vehicle to speak to the driver – Crace-Eales.
He told the police that the car belonged to a friend, who he had assured he was insured, but revealed his own vehicle had in fact been scrapped so this was not the case.
Smell of alcohol
Ms Silver said: “Whilst speaking they have noted the smell of alcohol on his breath.
“They advised him of this and he stated that he had been drinking the previous evening.”
But Crace-Eales failed a roadside breath test – providing a provisional reading of 32 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – the legal limit being 22.
It was at this point Crace-Eales made a run for it.
The fiscal depute told Sheriff Robert Frazer: “The accused has opened the rear door of the police vehicle and has then run away on foot, running between premises and over walls, but never out of sight of the officers.
“He has subsequently reached a skip and climbed into it and closed the doors.”
He was found and taken to Burnett Road Police Station, but on arrival did not comply with further breath testing procedures, demanding to see a solicitor and telling officers “I refuse”.
Solicitor Patrick O’Dea, for Crace-Eales, said his client had been drinking the night before, but had woken to a dental emergency and had borrowed the car to seek treatment.
“He made representations to a friend who gave him access to the vehicle,” Mr O’Dea said.
The defence agent said that, when police stopped the car Crace-Eales had been “struggling with the pain” of his dental issue and had been dealing with some “personal issues” as well.
‘He simply panicked’
He said: “He is astonished that he ran off from the police. He just explained that he simply panicked.
“He thought he was going to be jailed and sent to prison and his life would be over. He ran off and jumped into some sort of bin. Police never lost sight of him.
“He thinks he had some sort of anxiety issue.”
Mr O’Dea concluded: ” He does regret his behaviour.”
Sheriff Frazer told Crace-Eales, currently of Pelham Road, Clavering: You made a bad situation worse for yourself.”
He noted Crace-Eales’ clean driving licence but told him failing to provide a sample was “serious”, adding: “If you do that you can’t expect any sympathy.
” You resisted arrest and indeed ran away from police […] don’t do it again.”
He fined Crace-Eales £1275 and banned him from the roads for a year.