A legal high addict claimed she stole a car outside a Perthshire house at 3am because it was her only way of getting home.
Helen Gladstone, 39, was said to have stolen the vehicle after finding it unlocked and with keys outside Greenend Cottage in Aberargie.
Perth Sheriff Court heard that at the time of the offence Gladstone had been struggling with a legal high addiction and her weight had dropped to around six stones.
Depute fiscal Carol Whyte stated that the accused and an associate found themselves stranded in the early hours of the morning in November 2014.
Ms Whyte said: “The other party had come across a vehicle which was insecure. The accused then drove the vehicle. The vehicle was later recovered undamaged causing an obstruction over a driveway.
“The accused was interviewed on November 30 over another matter and told police about the vehicle. She said she took it as she needed to get home.”
Ms Whyte stated that the car keys were being kept either close to the vehicle or in the vehicle at the time of the offence.
She said: “There is no link between the accused and the vehicle owner. It just happened to be on the route the accused and the other person were taking to get home.”
Gladstone, then of Grahamstone Farm, Kinross, admitted stealing the car on November 12 2014. She also admitted that, between November 12 and November 15 2014 on an unknown route between Greenend Cottage, Aberargie, and Mansfield, Leslie, she used a car without insurance.
Sentence was deferred for reports.