A drunken farm worker abandoned his car after careering into another vehicle and smashing into a wall.
Connor Stevenson had been out with friends celebrating the reopening of pub beer gardens in early May.
The 21-year-old decided to drive home when it started to rain.
He appeared at Perth Sheriff Court on Wednesday and admitted driving along Perth’s Lochie Brae while nearly four times the legal limit.
Sheriff Craig McSherry told him: “If I was given a pound for every person who appeared before me who drove to a pub with the intention of getting a lift home, I wouldn’t be sitting here, I would be sitting in the Cayman Islands.”
Loud bang
Fiscal depute Sean Maher said at about 7.30pm on May 1, a passenger in a vehicle travelling along Lochie Brae noticed Stevenson’s Audi coming towards their car.
“The oncoming car appeared to correct itself and go back onto its side of the road.
“The passenger glanced down at her phone but then heard a loud bang.
“She looked up and noticed that the other car had struck the car that she was travelling in.”
Mr Maher said Stevenson drove on in “what was described as an ‘erratic’ manner.”
He said: “The car was seen to lose control and collide with a low wall, before becoming stuck in a grassy area.”
‘Something wrong’ with the car
People ran to the car and saw Stevenson in the driver’s seat.
“He stated that there was something wrong with his car,” said Mr Maher.
“But he appeared to be under the influence of some substance.
“He exited the vehicle and made off on foot.”
Police were called to the scene and later traced Stevenson walking along Muirhall Road.
“He was found to be in possession of the ignition keys for the car,” Mr Maher said.
He was arrested after failing a breath test and taken into custody at Dundee.
Moment of madness
Solicitor Jamie Baxter said Stevenson had lost control after trying to overtake a parked car and collided with the wing mirror of the passing vehicle.
“This was the first time for a significant period of time that people could visit public houses,” he said.
“He had been drinking with a group of friends he had not seen for around 12 months.”
The court heard that Stevenson had arranged to get a lift home from a friend at the end of the night.
He left the beer garden early and went to sit inside his car when it started raining.
“After a period he decided, extremely foolishly, that he would drive home,” said Mr Baxter.
“This was really a moment of madness for this young man.”
Stevenson, of Millburn, Burrelton, pled guilty to driving carelessly.
Sheriff McSherry fined him £1,000 and banned him from driving for 22 months.
