Weary worker flipped car as he dozed off

An exhausted nightshift worker fell asleep at the wheel and flipped his car on a remote country road.

Gavin Mcarthur was told he was lucky to have survived the smash near Tibbermore, on the outskirts of Perth.

The city’s sheriff court heard he was so tired he could barely stay awake.

Mcarthur, 31, admitted a charge of dangerous driving by falling asleep and losing control of his Renault Captur on Old Gallows Road, causing it to overturn.

Fiscal depute Andrew Harding told the court: “At about 7.20am on October 8, last year, police received a call from a member of the public about a vehicle which had overturned.

“Police attended at the site near Tibbermore and traced the vehicle and the accused.

“It was observed that the car had struck a verge, travelled on for about 10 metres and come to rest on its side.

“The accused confirmed to officers that he was the driver.

“He said that he was working and that he needed his bed.

Sheriff Gillian Wade told Mcarthur: “You were not just risking your own life here, you were also risking the lives of other road users.”

Mcarthur, of Primrose Terrace, Perth, was banned from the road for 27 months and ordered to carry out 225 hours of unpaid work.

Gavin Mcarthur.