The former manager of a government-funded renewables project was found hiding in woods after trying to drive home from a drunken night in Glasgow during the Cop26 climate conference, a court has been told.
Mark Friese, 37, abandoned his Renault Clio and went missing after he was confronted by an off-duty policeman at 3.30am as he drunkenly tried to perform a U-turn after getting lost and ending up in Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire, on his way home to Perthshire. He was found an hour later near the M876 and gave himself up.
Falkirk sheriff court was told that Friese had battled his way to university after a disadvantaged upbringing, and that the conversation with the off-duty police sergeant had provoked PTSD that he had developed after seeing someone have their throat cut when he was a child in the west of Scotland.
James Moncrieff, prosecuting, said: “The off-duty sergeant was returning home when his attention was drawn to the accused’s vehicle.
“It was being driven in a strange manner, moving around the road, the indicator lights were being activated and the vehicle was going straight ahead, and it was braking suddenly for no apparent reason.”
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Moncrieff said the sergeant suspected the driver had been drinking, and began to follow the car, which then turned into Norwood Avenue, Bonnybridge, a dead end beside the M876.
Friese, who was the driver, tried to turn the car around but mounted the kerb, and ended up blocking the entrance to a cul-de-sac. Moncrieff said: “The off-duty sergeant approached and identified himself by showing his warrant card. There was a strong smell of alcohol from the accused.”
Other officers were called the scene, but by the time they arrived, Friese had gone. After being found, he was taken to Falkirk police station and gave a breath sample that proved to contain 71 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 milliltres, nearly three-and-a-quarter times the legal limit, which is 22. The incident happened on November 13.
Friese, of Auchterarder, Perthshire, admitted drink-driving.
Kris Buchanan, for the defence, said Friese, a senior design engineer with Scottish Power, had been out with colleagues in Glasgow. He had parked his car near High Street Station, Glasgow, and had not intended to drive home.
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Buchanan said: “His plan had been to stay with one of his colleagues, but they became separated. He made attempts to find accommodation but there was nothing available and he made the ill-fated decision to drive home.”
Buchanan said Friese did have a record of “non-analogous” offending but, the court heard, it stopped before he was 20. A psychologist had identified that Friese had “PTSD” issues.
He said: “What these stem from is his upbringing, living in the Dumbarton area. “During his youth he was witness to a number of traumatic events, witnessing a number of stabbings.
“On one occasion, somebody was slashed in the throat in front of him.”
He said Friese had “clearly demonstrated risk-taking behaviour” but was taking steps himself to address his issues.
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Sheriff Alison Michie said Friese had “chosen to drive from Glasgow to Auchterarder while so significantly over the drink-driving limit”. She said that his alcohol reading would “clearly have been considerably higher” had he not gone missing for an hour.
Fining him £1,000 and disqualifying him for two years, she said: “You’re clearly educated, you’re a father, and you’re married to a doctor. I am sure you cannot fail to appreciate the seriousness of your conduct.”
According to Friese’s LinkedIn profile, for over a year from 2014 he was project manager for “Empower Chisitu” in Malawi, playing a key role in the development and leadership of a £54,000 Scottish government-funded project to bring power to rural villages.