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Drug-driver who crashed car near Peterhead handed roads ban

Martin Budge, 30, had more than double the legal limit of benzoylecgonine in his blood when he was picked up by police last summer.

The case called at Peterhead Sheriff Court. Image: DC Thomson
The case called at Peterhead Sheriff Court. Image: DC Thomson

A man who crashed his car while high on drugs near Peterhead has been handed a two-year roads ban.

Peterhead Sheriff Court heard that Martin Budge was covered in sweat and falling asleep when police attended to him on July 19 last year after his car smashed through a fence and ended up in a field near the port.

He had been spotted by a member of the public earlier in the day who sounded the alarm on the A90 Blackdog to Peterhead road as he weaved in and out of his lane and crashed into the road’s central reservation.

Covered in sweat and twitching when police caught up to him

Fiscal depute Kirsty Martin told the court both crashes happened within an hour of each other, with 999 being called to report Budge’s driving at about 8am.

“She noticed collision damage to the vehicle,” Ms Martin said of the witness when Budge went to overtake her.

“She observed it veering from side to side on the carriageway.”

He was then found near his crashed car by constables at 8.53am.

Ms Martin continued: “The accused identified himself as the driver of the vehicle. The accused had no injuries but was found to have a slightly irregular heartbeat.”

Officers at the time noted he appeared to be sweating, had constricted pupils, was drowsy, and had an eyelid twitch.

When an ambulance conveyed him to Aberdeen, he continued to sweat and, at one stag,e fell asleep. He would later record a reading of 132mg of benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, per litre of blood. The limit is 50mg.

‘He effectively feels that he’s let his family down’

Budge’s defence agent, Leonard Burkinshaw, told the court his client had been out celebrating with friends the night before the crashes because he had worked 11 straight days.

“It hadn’t been his intention to drive that particular day. Unfortunately, someone in the morning had woken him up and told him he needed a lift,” Mr Burkinshaw said.

“On his return, he did feel the effects. He accepts what has been described by the Crown.”

Mr Burkinshaw added that Budge was in employment at a substation in the south and able to pay a financial penalty, but the loss of his licence – although inevitable – would have an effect on future employment and his personal life.

He said Budge, whose address was given as Millburn Avenue in Dumfries, had responsibilities for a brother who was suffering from cancer.

“He effectively feels that he’s let his family down,” Mr Burkinshaw said.

In addition to being banned from the road for two years, Budge will need to resit his driving test if he wishes to get back behind the wheel.

He will also pay a £1,040 fine.

In delivering his sentence, Sheriff Robert McDonald said: “There was a very obvious danger to other people on the road.”