A banned driver who flipped his car on the Perth bypass was accused of fleeing the accident scene in a bus stolen from a passing driver who had stopped to help.
Gary Nimmo (29) was jailed and banned from the road for life when he appeared at Perth Sheriff Court to be sentenced for driving while disqualified for the 11th time.
He had driven from Glasgow to Perth while high on drugs before smashing into a central reservation barrier and destroying his car.
Seeing him soaked in blood after crawling out of a window, motorists stopped to offer aid but he made off after telling them there were other people trapped in the wreckage.
Depute fiscal John Malpass said, “At 2.30am on April 3 witnesses travelling north on the Craigend to Broxden part of the A90 observed, on the opposite carriageway, the vehicle in question upside down on its roof on the southbound carriageway.
“They stopped their vehicle and observed the accused exiting the driver’s seat. He shouted at them to get him out of the area.
“Witnesses contacted the emergency services and at the same time a bus (driver) travelling southbound observed the vehicle on its roof and had to stop on the hard shoulder further along.
“All three witnesses spoke with the accused, who was covered in blood. The accused indicated there were passengers still within the upturned vehicle and the three witnesses went to see.
“However, the accused did not and as police arrived at the scene they observed the accused make off from the location.”
The officers called for backup and gave chase, with a car eventually intercepting Nimmo on Edinburgh Road.
Although he was clearly unfit to drive through either drink or drugs, he could not be tested at the roadside because he had a head wound which needed treatment at Perth Royal Infirmary.
There had been no other people in the car with him when he crashed.
Nimmo, of Garscadden Road South, Glasgow, pled guilty to driving while disqualified and while under the influence of drink or drugs.
He pled not guilty to stealing a car from outside his home address and failing to stop and give his details following the accident. He had also been charged with stealing a bus and driving it while disqualified and while unfit to do so through drink or drugs. Two charges of driving without insurance and one of possessing heroin were also levelled at him but not guilty pleas to all were accepted by the Crown.
Drug addict Nimmo already had 31 convictions for road traffic offences, many of which saw him imprisoned.
He was banned from driving for 16 years in 2002 and has since been banned for 10 years on four separate occasions.
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said a period of 14 months in prison and a life ban were “wholly appropriate” for his latest crimes.
He said, “Not only were you driving while disqualified, you were in such a condition you were unable to keep the car on the road.
“As a result it ended up on its roof, with the potential for serious injuries to yourself and other road users.”