A9 Kessock Bridge driver seven times the limit jailed after ramming woman he believed was his wife
A sheriff jailed a drink driver who drove his van down the wrong side of the busy A9 and rammed the car of a woman motorist he was pursuing.
Sheriff Sara Matheson told Slawomir Stiller (49), from Poland, it was "one of the worst courses of driving coupled with abusive conduct that I can recall, adding: “And this on the A9, which is well known for being the scene of many fatalities.
“The fact you did not kill or seriously injure members of the public is a matter of pure luck."
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Imposing a 28-month sentence she told Stiller she would have jailed him for longer but for the restrictions placed on her sentencing which she described as "inappropiately low” to answer his case.
She imposed the maximum available to her while also giving him discount for his early plea of guilty.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard that the professional delivery driver was found to be almost seven times over the legal driving limit at the time of the incident.
As he passed the woman motorist in May this year, he mistook her for his wife, despite her still living in Poland at the time.
Several witnesses provided police with dashcam footage which showed Stiller’s reckless driving as he travelled south on the northbound lane of the A9, at one point reaching a speed of 60mph.
Sentence had previously been deferred for a background report after he pleaded guilty to charges that included drink driving, dangerous driving, assault by driving his light goods vehicle into the woman's car and threatening behaviour.
He was also disqualified from driving for nine years and two months.
Alison McKenzie, Procurator Fiscal for Grampian, Highlands and the Islands, said: “Slawomir Stiller showed a reckless disregard for the safety of other motorists.
“It is entirely possible that his conduct could have resulted in a fatal incident."
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Stiller, of no fixed abode, had 136mcg of alcohol in his system when the legal limit is only 22mcg.
His victim's ordeal began at 6.50pm and didn't end until 7.41pm on May 8.
During that time the 999 service received a dozen emergency calls, some from the woman herself who was extremely distressed by the time police caught up with Stiller.
He had blocked the northbound carriageway on the Kessock Bridge to exit his vehicle and hammer on her window.
The court was told the complainer had only driven a short distance from the Tore roundabout when she saw Stiller's van driving towards her, also on the southbound carriageway, flashing his main beam.
Fiscal depute Emily Hood said: "She got a fright and pulled into the next layby and phoned her husband and thereafter made an attempt to phone 999."
The court heard Stiller then travelled around the Tore roundabout anti-clockwise with his hazard lights on and entered the northbound carriageway - while travelling south.
"Another motorist who was approaching the roundabout and sounded his horn. The accused stopped his vehicle, straddling both lanes." Ms Hood said.
The other driver spoke with Stiller through his driver's side window, telling him he couldn't drive that way as he would cause an accident and offered to help him reverse back onto the roundabout.
"Stiller thereafter began to shout about his wife and spun his wheels while accelerating towards the verge and got past the stationary traffic,” Ms Hood said. “He mounted the central reservation to get around the stationary vehicle and was then seen travelling south in the northbound carriageway, driving slowly, erratically, swerving and hitting the verge."
CCTV and dashcam footage was shown to the court, with several cars having to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
Ms Hood said when the frightened woman again stopped in a layby to contact police Stiller left his vehicle in the central reservation, walked across the southbound carriageway, causing traffic to stop, and attempted to open her locked door.
He then re-entered his own vehicle, continued to drive south in the northbound lane, made a U turn at a junction further down and travelled north, again in the southbound carriageway, before veering towards the woman's car and carrying on.
But he returned after police scrambled multiple units to try and trace Stiller.
He approached the woman's car again with his hazard lights on but she sped away at 70mph to try and escape before he overtook her when she had to slow down for a lorry, pulled in in front of her and reversed into the front of her vehicle.
He again got out and tried to pull open her door while shouting then got back into his van and moved it diagonally across both lanes.
Police had arrived by this time and ushered him away from the distraught woman.
Ms Hood added: "She was in extreme distress and on the phone, and he was unsteady on his feet, agitated and was shouting and ranting in an incoherent manner towards the witness…who he appeared to believe was his wife. He was then detained by officers."
A bottle of whisky and medication were seen inside his van.
