Drink-driver’s midnight run ended in crash outside pub

A Brechin man who crashed an Audi sports car after drunkenly thinking it would be a good idea to go for a run in it has been given a six-month tagging order.

George King, 43, of Montrose Street, knew the owner of the TT coupe but without a full licence, his midnight plan went wrong when he hit a wall, lamppost and a parked van in sight of onlookers outside a town pub.

They saw King crawling from the wrecked car and he was found by police soon after, hiding behind a house wall after the January 26 incident.

King admitted taking and driving away a car in Brechin on January 26, driving carelessly and without insurance or an appropriate licence, failing to stop and failing to provide a breath specimen.

At Forfar Sheriff Court, Sheriff Kevin Veal imposed a six-month Restriction of Liberty Order, confining King to his home between 7pm and 7am and an 18-month driving ban.

Defence agent Bob Bruce said: “His demerit is alcohol. His merit is that he has worked since he was 16.”