Death crash driver was over the limit
A LEARNER driver was over the legal drinks limit when he smashed his friend’s car into a wall, leaving him dead in the wreckage.
Police searched the area near Spittal after Stuart McCulloch (28) said he was not the driver – but found no-one else.
Michael Cameron (23) suffered fatal head injuries and was still in the passenger seat of the wrecked Vauxhall Astra, wearing his seat belt.
At the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday, McCulloch, of Clayock, Halkirk, pleaded guilty to causing Mr Cameron’s death by driving carelessly while unfit because of drink on February 26 last year.
At the time of the accident on the A9 Inverness to Thurso road he was the holder of a provisional licence, the court heard.
Judge Lord Pentland called for background reports and remanded McCulloch in custody pending sentence in August.
Advocate depute Richard Goddard said a blood sample taken when injured McCulloch was treated in hospital showed an alcohol reading of 102mg – the legal limit is 80mg per 100ml of blood.
The court heard that McCulloch and Mr Cameron had a meal at Mr Cameron’s Thurso home then left, intending to go to McCulloch’s house for drinks.
In the early hours of the following morning police in Thurso town centre spoke to McCulloch and found him "confrontational and under the influence of alcohol".
Half an hour later the Astra collided with a stone building and dry-stone dyke at Achalone.
Semiconscious McCulloch was about 100ft down the road and told witnesses he had not been driving.
He repeated his claim to police who arrived at the crash scene.
"The officers checked a nearby field but were unable to find anyone else who could have been the driver," said Mr Goddard.
Later, in hospital, McCulloch was formally asked to provide details of the Astra driver and replied: "Not a clue."
Interviewed later he said he remembered drinking in a nightclub then nothing more until he woke up in hospital.
But he agreed that a pair of trainers found in the driver’s footwell were his.
Crash investigators found debris scattered over both sides of the road and the car engine and bonnet torn off.
They said the Astra was driving "at speed" but could not establish how fast.
The investigators also said that after the crash the driver probably opened his door, rather than being flung from the wreck.
Mr Cameron lived with his parents, William and Nicola, and his sister in Royal Terrace.
He worked alongside his mother in the Co-op supermarket in Thurso but was latterly employed in the Jobcentre Plus office in Wick.
Nicknamed Panda, he was a very keen football fan, supporting Rangers.
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