A drunk driver sped over the Tay Road Bridge at up to 120mph – and on the wrong side of the carriageway.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard Daniel McLean, 24, was unable to stop at the end of the bridge, due to the speed he was travelling, and drove right over the top of the roundabout.
His car then skidded over the other side of the roundabout and onto a grass verge, before stopping.
A female passenger within his vehicle – Danielle Swindells – hit her head on the dashboard but was otherwise uninjured.
Fiscal depute John Adams told the court Miss Swindells was on a night out in Dundee on the evening of June 20 when she posted a message on Facebook asking for a lift home to Cupar, Fife.
The fiscal said: “The accused, who is a friend of Miss Swindells, responded saying he would pick her up.
“He collected her at 4.04am at Seagate and drove towards Fife.
“At Dock Street the accused missed the slip road onto the bridge and continued westwards before doing a U-turn and joining onto the north carriageway of the bridge.
“On realising that he was on the wrong side of the bridge, he reacted by attempting to cross the bridge as quickly as he could.
“Miss Swindells looked at the speedometer and saw he was travelling at 120mph.”
The court heard that as he approached the end of the bridge McLean realised he was travelling too fast to negotiate the roundabout and despite attempts to brake he failed to stop in time.
The fiscal continued: “He narrowly missed another vehicle and continued to travel south, over the roundabout, and skidding across the opposite carriageway before mounting a grass verge.
“Miss Swindells struck her head on the dashboard but fortunately did not sustain injury.”
Police were contacted and when they attended McLean was breathalysed where he gave a reading of two and half times the legal limit.
The incident was caught on CCTV and showed it took McLean 54 seconds to cross the bridge, giving an average speed of 93mph.
Solicitor Ian Houston, defending, said: “He’s in the army, he’s presently a lance corporal for Three Scots, which is the former Black Watch Regiment.
“He will likely be demoted because of this to a private.”
McLean, of Kirkbank, Dumfries, admitted one charge of driving a car with 52mics of alcohol in 100ml of breath, and a second charge of dangerous driving, both on June 21, at Tay Road Bridge and A92.
Sentence was deferred until November 18 and McLean was disqualified from driving meantime.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.