A Dundee drink-driver killed a Mearns man and left his wife trapped and injured in their smashed car.
Newlywed Colin Taylor, 59, was driving near Arbroath when he was killed instantly in a head-on collision on October 31 last year.
After watching Russell McKeever admit his guilt at the High Court in Aberdeen, Mr Taylor’s widow Julie said: “He had a choice but he got in that car and drove dangerously. He might as well have used a gun or a hammer.”
The Taylors, from Stonehaven, had married at the town’s golf club the month before and were driving to Arbroath to visit their granddaughter when tragedy struck at 3.15pm.
McKeever, who ran a number of building and home improvement companies, drove his black Audi A6 on to the wrong side of the A933 at the Leysmill junction and hit the couple’s blue Citroen Picasso.
The 42-year-old was still around three times the legal alcohol limit four hours after the crash.
Mr Taylor had lived most of his life in the Mearns, where he worked for the Post Office and as a bar manager before setting up a joinery and plumbing business.
Mrs Taylor was a manager with Penumbra in Aberdeen, which helps people with mental health issues.
She will suffer the physical effects of her injuries for the rest of her life and also lost her Patterdale terrier Kola in the crash.
“The woman I was, the job and the responsibility I had, I can’t do it any more,” Mrs Taylor said.
McKeever had been at a pub in Broughty Ferry for lunch with his ex-wife and her friend. He had one glass of wine there but then they went back to the friend’s home after stopping at a supermarket to buy more alcohol.
On leaving, he told his companions he was going out to his car to get a brochure but then drove away.
Following admission to hospital he was tested at 7.14pm and gave an alcohol reading of 226mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood, the limit at the time being 80mg.
Lawyer Chris Fyffe asked Lord Armstrong to continue his client’s bail until he is sentenced in January but the judge refused.
He told McKeever: “You robbed a man of his life and left his wife with the most serious injuries, the consequences of which she will have to live with for the rest of her life.”