A greenkeeper who was caught drunkenly weaving across a dual carriageway outside a driving range has been banned from the road for a year.
Niall Menzies, 43, was driving so badly that officers in a police patrol car had to brake hard to avoid colliding with his Nissan Micra.
When he eventually noticed the police and tried to stop, he struck his car off the kerb several times before he was finally able to bring the vehicle to a standstill.
At Perth Sheriff Court yesterday, Menzies, from Birnam, admitted drink driving on the A90 between Dundee and Perth on January 8 this year. When he was stopped near the Middlebank Golf Centre he was more than three times over the limit.
Fiscal depute Nicole Lewis told the court: "Police were driving behind the accused and observed him swaying between lanes one and two.
"The constables had to brake hard to avoid colliding with him. They signalled for him to stop and he struck the kerbside several times.
"He was the sole occupant of the car. There was a smell of alcohol coming from him and his speech was slurred. He gave a positive roadside sample."
Solicitor Pauline Cullerton, defending, said: "He is a full-time greenkeeper and requires his licence for his employment. He was driving home from Dundee.
"He had booked a hotel room, but had turned up late and couldn't get in, and he made the very silly decision to drive back to his home address.
"It will be very difficult for him to go to work using public transport. He starts at 7am and works until 7pm. He works at the Friarton depot in Perth."
Sheriff Euan Duthie banned Menzies from driving for 12 months and fined him £500. He told Menzies: "You made a very poor choice that day."
Menzies was formerly greenkeeper at Dunkeld Golf Club and is now understood to work in a local authority role.
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