Inverness drink-driver caught after police spotted car moving very slowly and weaving from side to side on A96
A local authority electrician took his father's car without permission and then drove it along the A96 after drinking.
But Inverness Sheriff Court heard that police became suspicious of the black Mini Cooper on the night of August 20 last year as it was being driven very slowly and weaving from side to side near Culloden.
They pulled the vehicle over and could smell alcohol from Blair Mackenzie's breath. Fiscal depute Adele Gray told Sheriff Sara Matheson that the 30-year-old of Culloden Road was also slurring his words.
He was taken to Burnett Road Police Station and a urine sample was later analysed which showed he was almost four times the legal limit. His reading was 264, when the maximum is 67mcgs of alcohol.
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Defence solicitor advocate Clare Russell said the car had been his deceased mother's but her client's father was now the registered keeper and had not given his son permission to take it.
She added: "There is no excuse for this. Alcohol had been consumed and he made the stupid decision to drive."
Mackenzie, who admitted drink-driving and taking and driving away the vehicle without authority, was fined a total of £940 and banned from driving for 22 months.
However Sheriff Matheson certified him as suitable for the drink-driver rehabilitation course which, if he successfully completes it, will earn him a 22-week discount on his disqualification.
