Egged on by his friends, a drunken 15-year-old got behind the wheel of a car and drove a short distance before colliding with a lamppost.
Dale Geraghty, now aged 16, of Grovehill, Kelso, was over twice the legal drink/driving limit at the time.
He admitted driving a car at Springwood Rise, Kelso, on June 29 last year, with a blood/alcohol reading of 219mgms – the legal limit being 80 – and also using the vehicle without insurance.
Procurator fiscal Graham Fraser told how police received a report that a vehicle had crashed, at about 4.45am.
“The car belonged to a friend of the accused,” explained Mr Fraser.
“He was traced and it transpired his alcohol level was just over twice the limit and that he was not insured for the vehicle,” he added.
“These offences were committed when he was just 15,” explained defence solicitor Rory Bannerman.
“He was egged on by friends and he drove the car just a short distance before he banged it into a lamppost.”
Mr Bannerman described the offence as “crass stupidity”.
Sheriff Ian Anderson told Geraghty the offence was serious enough to warrant a Community Payback Order.
Geraghty was placed on a three-month order with a condition he completes 30 hours of unpaid work, and was banned from driving for 20 months.