A 64-year-old man from Perth was spotted downing vodka before driving away from the store he bought it from.
Martin Tolman bought a bottle of the spirit at a branch of RS McColl in the city and was seen outside the shop emptying it into a water bottle then taking a gulp.
Fiscal depute Nicole Lewis told Perth Sheriff Court: “He has then entered the vehicle and drove away from the locus at which point police have been contacted.”
Ms Lewis said police then traced the vehicle to Tolman’s home where they knocked on his door and asked him if he had been drinking.
“He stated he had drunk whisky from a bottle prior to their arrival,” she said.
The court heard Tolman was then breath tested and it showed he had consumed so much alcohol he was three-and-a-half times over the legal drink drive limit.
Tolman, of Fairies Road, Perth, admitted driving in the city when the proportion of alcohol on his breath was 80 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit in Scotland is 22 microgrammes.
Sheriff William Wood remarked before sentencing Tolman: “It seems to me this was an act of folly.”
He disqualified Tolman from holding or obtaining a driving licence for 23 months, reduced from 30 months to take into account the timing of his guilty plea.
Sheriff Wood also fined Tolman £900, again reduced from £1200 because of his early guilty plea.
