A world champion bagpiper caused tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage during a drunken wrecking spree in his £45,000 electric car.
Accountant Jonathan Greenlees smashed into four other cars – including the same one twice – while he was more than three times over the limit.
It was Greenlees’ own hi-tech Polestar car which first alerted the police to him crashing while the sound of several loud bangs brought witnesses out into the street.
Greenlees admitted driving dangerously and drunk while he was supposed to be staying at the Crieff Hydro Hotel in Perthshire on 14 April this year.
The 51-year-old resigned as Finance Director of Securigroup Ltd the day after his arrest and just six months after taking up the post with the Glasgow-based company.
Fiscal depute Elizabeth Hodgson told Perth Sheriff Court that the dangerous driving lasted for almost 30 minutes and was recorded in full by Greenlees’ own dashcam device.
She said: ‘From around 11pm people in the neighbourhood and roads around Crieff heard a series of collisions and came out into the street to investigate.
‘The exited their homes and found the accused sitting in the driver’s seat of his vehicle, a black Polestar. Police arrived ten minutes later.
A world champion bagpiper caused tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage during a drunken wrecking spree in his £45,000 electric car. Accountant Jonathan Greenlees (pictured) smashed into four other cars – including the same one twice – while he was more than three times over the limit
It was Greenlees’ own hi-tech Polestar car which first alerted the police to him crashing while the sound of several loud bangs brought witnesses out into the street. Greenlees admitted driving dangerously and drunk while he was supposed to be staying at the Crieff Hydro Hotel in Perthshire on 14 April this year. Pictured: Perth Sheriff Court
‘They noticed damage to multiple vehicles and traced the accused within his vehicle and trying to start it. He was asked if he was injured and replied that he wasn’t.
‘He was asked to exit and it was clear he was dazed, confused and slurring his words. An ambulance attended and they assessed that he was fit for custody.
‘He identified himself as the driver. The usual procedures were carried out and the accused provided a lower reading of 70 mics [limit 22 mics]. He was arrested and placed in a locked cell.
‘His dashcam footage shows the entire event and lasts for about half an hour. It shows how dangerous the driving is – striking multiple vehicles, stalling and running up onto the kerb.’
Defence solicitor Jim Brady told the court his client believed he had suffered a reaction to taking medicine and alcohol during the evening and could not remember what happened.
He said: ‘This incident came as a result of a combination of alcohol and a very unusual reaction because of medication [Citalopram] the accused was taking.
‘He can’t recall leaving the table, the hotel or even driving the car. He had been taking the medication for two years or longer than that and there has never been any incident where the consumption of alcohol has resulted in anything at all.
‘He was going to be staying at the Crieff Hydro. He would not normally risk driving at all, having taken any drink. His colleagues told him how much he had had to drink, and it was four to five glasses of wine.’
Greenlees, Wykeham Road, Glasgow, admitted driving drunk from Crieff Hydro car park, on the A822 towards Muthill and on various other roads in Crieff on 14 April.
He also admitted driving dangerously and colliding with several stationary cars, driving at excessive speed, failing to maintain lane discipline, repeatedly driving on the wrong side and striking the kerb.
Sheriff Alison McKay deferred sentence for social work reports, a restriction of liberty order assessment, and for the dashcam footage to be played in court. Greenlees was ordained to appear.
She said: ‘I would suggest he drove at the higher end of dangerousness, and put not only his own safety, but the safety of the public at risk.
‘I am pretty sure all people who take anti-depressants are warned about the danger of taking alcohol at the same time. Maybe he has been getting away with it for two years.’
Greenlees was in the Field Marshall Montgomery Pipe Band when he was crowned Champion Piper at the National Mod Piping Competition in Oban in 2015. He has won numerous world titles.
