Uninsured drink driver jailed for fatal crash on M90
A drink driver who was almost twice the legal limit has been jailed for five years after a crash that killed his friend.
Jamie Fleming, 21, from Fife, admitted causing the death of Ricky Brown, 18, by driving drunk and carelessly last March on the M90 near Perth.
The judge said Fleming's record was "a troubling one", with a conviction for careless driving and two warnings from police over motoring incidents.
He was given an eight-year driving ban.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard how Fleming, from Newburgh, told police he did not think the alcohol he had consumed had affected him.
The apprentice plumber said he "felt fine" despite being nearly double the permitted drink drive limit after downing three pints of lager, one and a half vodka and cokes and a further shot of spirits.
The court was also told Fleming had bought the car about a week before the incident but did not have current insurance for the vehicle and claimed he had been put off purchasing it as it had been too expensive.
The court heard crash investigators reckoned that the car could have been travelling at up to 83 mph before the crash, when Fleming failed to negotiate a bend and lost control of the vehicle.
After they were freed from the car both driver and passenger were taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, where Mr Brown later died.
Defence solicitor advocate Iain Paterson said his client had not driven since the fatal accident.
He said: "He is a young man who has made a terrible error of judgement which has had terrible consequences.
"He is devastated by what was a catastrophic error of judgement."
Mr Paterson said that when Fleming had gone to Perth it was his intention not to drink.
He said: "He drove there then consumed alcohol which he accepts he should not have done."
Judge Lady Stacey said: "So far you have shown you are a danger to yourself and other road users and therefore I have to take a very serious view of the two offences."