A joiner who swigged tins of beer as he drove was so drunk he did not realise he had driven 25 miles in the wrong direction.
Dean Kelly came out of a drive-thru restaurant and spent 40 minutes going back the way he came because he was nearly seven times over the alcohol limit.
The floor of Kelly’s car was littered with empty beer cans when police finally pulled him over as he tried to drive 115 miles from Edinburgh to Stonehaven.
Kelly, of Clovenstone Gardens, Edinburgh, admitted driving on the A90 from Forfar to Middlebank in Perthshire when he was drunk on April 3. His reading was 142/22 mics.
Lost bearings
Kelly had left his Edinburgh home earlier in the day and had stopped at the roadside burger restaurant when he was more than halfway north to Stonehaven.
When he came out of McDonalds he lost his bearings and was unaware he was heading south, back in the direction he had just come from.
Fiscal depute Andrew Harding told Perth Sheriff Court: “Witnesses were working in McDonalds in Forfar when a black Saab entered the drive-thru.
“It was apparent the driver was under the influence because he was smelling of alcohol and from the way he was driving.
“They served the accused and contacted police.
“At 7.05pm the police got reports of a male driving the same black Saab and it had last been seen heading south towards Dundee.
“At 7.45pm officers conducted a search of the A90 and they observed the vehicle near Middlebank, going from side to side in the inside lane.
“They stopped the vehicle and the driver said he was going to Stonehaven.
“In both the driver and passenger footwells were numerous empty beer cans.
“The accused provided a positive roadside breath sample. At 8.30pm he gave a lower reading of 142 mics.”
‘Substantial intoxication’
Solicitor Paul Ralph, defending, said: “He has no previous convictions.
“He is a carpenter to trade and appears to spend most of his working life in Europe.
“He is currently on a job in the Netherlands. He accepts full responsibility and has pled guilty at a very early stage.”
Sheriff William Wood said Kelly was driving under “substantial intoxication” and banned him from driving for 40 months.
He also fined Kelly, who was not present in court, £2,000.
