A drink-driver killed his passenger while trying to show off his souped-up car.
Daniel Ritchie got in his Vauxhall Corsa – modified to be almost three times its regular power – despite having downed alcohol at a party.
He took 21-year-old Greg Anderson with him, but lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree.
Mr Anderson never recovered following the collision near Carrbridge, Inverness-shire on July 6, 2013.
Ritchie, of Woodlands, Carr Road, Carrbridge, yesterday admitted causing Mr Anderson’s death by driving dangerously.
The High Court in Glasgow heard the 24-year-old plant operator told a witness at the scene: “It should be me that’s dead.”
Ritchie and Mr Anderson were both at the 21st birthday party in Carrbridge, and got chatting about cars.
Advocate depute Paul Brown, prosecuting, told the court: “After about five minutes… the accused offered to show Mr Anderson his car.”
Ritchie and Mr Anderson then left the party and got into the high powered Vauxhall. A witness then spotted a car whizzing past “at speed”.
But, within minutes, Ritchie’s car mounted a grass verge, hit fencing before crashing heavily into a tree.
It was Ritchie who dialled police to report the accident.
Mr Anderson’s girlfriend – who had also been at the party – heard what had happened and raced to the scene.
Another driver meantime stopped to give first aid to the dying victim.
The court heard Ritchie told the man: “Please tell me he is still alive.
“I’ve had a drink. Why is it always the driver that escapes these things. It should be me that’s dead.”
Mr Anderson, of Kingussie, died that night having suffered a fatal head injury.
Checks later carried out on Ritchie’s car found that the engine size had been modified at some point.
Mr Brown told the court crash investigators concluded “responsibility” for the accident lay entirely with Ritchie.
The advocate depute went on: “He was under the influence of alcohol whilst driving a car which had almost three times the power it was designed to have… travelling at excessive speed on a single track road.”
The court also heard that Mr Anderson’s father was struggling to cope with losing his “irreplaceable” son, and that he had been too ill to attend yesterday’s hearing.
Judge Lord Boyd deferred sentencing until October 1 in Edinburgh. Ritchie was released on bail and banned from the road meantime.