Driver banned after being found slumped at wheel when ketamine kicked in mid-journey
Kaden Eddie, 20, was ordered to pull over by police between Stonehaven to Aberdeen after his car was spotted swerving across the A92 road during the early hours of the morning.
When police approached Eddie's vehicle, they found him slumped over the wheel and unable to answer questions.
His solicitor told the Aberdeen Sheriff Court that Eddie had ingested the drug ketamine at a friend's house but had decided to drive home when he hadn't felt any effects.
Mid-journey, however, the drug kicked in.
Sheriff Willam Summers told Eddie he shouldn't have been 'anywhere near a car'.
Fiscal depute Lindsay Shields told the court that at around 4am on May 11 this year, police were on mobile patrol on the A92, near Portlethen, when they came across Eddie's black Seat, which was swerving from side to side.
As Eddie manoeuvred the car into another lane, the police requested that he pull over to the side of the road, which he eventually complied with.
Exiting their vehicle, the officers approached Eddie's car and found him in the driver's seat, slumped over the steering wheel with his eyes open and his pupils 'pin-pricked'.
'The accused was unable to answer basic questions and his speech was slurred,' the fiscal depute said, adding that, when he was taken out of the vehicle, Eddie was also 'unable to walk unattended'.
Eddie was made subject to a roadside test, which produced a negative result for alcohol – he then volunteered to the officers that he had 'taken Ket'.
He was then given a roadside drugs swab and gave a positive reading for cocaine and cannabis.
Later, at Kittybrewster Police Station, Eddie refused to provide a urine sample for analysis.
In the dock, Eddie pleaded guilty to one count of being in charge of a motor vehicle while unfit to drive due to drink or drugs.
He also admitted a second charge of failing to provide a urine sample to police.
Defence solicitor Graham Morrison told the court that his client was telling the truth when he told the officers he had taken ketamine that morning.
'It hadn't affected him in the house, and he thought he would be okay to drive but when he got into the car and started off it immediately started to affect him.'
Sentencing Eddie, Sheriff Summers told him: 'It's clear from what's been said that you were driving while severely impaired.
'It's obvious to me that you should not have been anywhere near a car and there's no other sentence I can impose other than a significant period of disqualification.'
Sheriff Summers banned Eddie, Gairsay Road, Aberdeen, from driving for 16 months and ordered him to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.
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