A dancing plumber who become an overnight YouTube sensation in a video showing off his moves claimed in court that his Big Mac was “spiked”.
Mark Topen was found slumped over the wheel of his car by residents in Tannadice Street in Dundee after, he claimed, his meal had been “laced” with four separate drugs by his work colleagues.
The sheriff court was told people tried to wake him to check if he was OK when the car was stopped in the middle of the street with its lights on and the engine running.
Trial witness David Short told the court he realised Topen, 55, was heavily under the influence of something and removed the keys from the ignition.
Police and an ambulance were called and paramedics were treating the self-employed plumber when PC Robert Young arrived.
PC Young told the court Topen was sitting in the driver’s seat.
A breath test gave a zero reading and he was taken to police HQ where he was medically examined and the DD4 blood sample procedure was carried out.
A joint minute of agreed evidence produced in court revealed the presence of four separate drugs in his system, ecstasy, etizolam, amphetamine and ethylphenidate.
When arrested he had slurred speech, there was blue powder or material stuck in his teeth and he had blue food colouring covering his tongue. The examining doctor noted the accused’s driving would have been impaired through drugs.
Topen told the court he had gone to McDonald’s restaurant at Milton of Craigie with colleagues who had bought his meal with a drink.
He said that when he was driving home he felt “terrible”. He added: “I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t take drugs.’’
Asked what he thought had happened he replied: “I have reason to believe my meal was spiked. I believe it was meant to be a laugh.”
Sheriff George Way found him guilty of being in charge of a car while unfit through drink or drugs in Tannadice Street on April 11 2016. He was fined £500 and banned from driving for a year.
Topen, of Gilmour Street, shot to fame after he was filmed by his workmates dancing to a dance track while working on a construction site in 2014.
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