A drink-driver who crashed into two parked cars, ran off then reported his own vehicle stolen is facing jail.

Stephen Brown, 27, rammed his five-year-old Seat Leon into a parked Mercedes Coupe and a Citroen while nearly five times over the drink-drive limit.

A court heard residents in Gillies Drive, Stirling, where the incident happened, were woken by "a series of loud bangs" at 12.30am on October 12 last year.

They looked out to see two cars belonging to residents had been badly damaged by Brown's vehicle.

Prosecutor Lindsey Brooks said that as the horrified residents watched, they saw a man, who turned out to be Brown, get out and run away.

Police were called and found the Seat Leon abandoned with its airbags deployed.

Ms Brooks said: "The driver's door was wide open and there was loud music playing but the driver was nowhere to be seen."

She said all three vehicles suffered "significant damage" and in the case of the Seat, the impact was to its front end.

A registration check showed the Seat belonged to Brown and officers set off in the direction of his home, which was not far away.

Before they got there they were flagged down by Brown who told them he had just had a text from "a friend" who claimed to have taken Brown's car and crashed it.

Ms Brooks said: "The officers noticed that Mr Brown fitted the description of the driver given by the witnesses and also that he smelled strongly of alcohol.

"Mr Brown gave a description of his 'friend' which was different from that of the driver. The police then took him home and he failed to produce his mobile phone, which he had said had the text on it."

Brown was detained and asked police: "Why am I being arrested when I was in bed all night?"

He later gave a breath sample which contained 100mcg/ml, more than four and a half times the legal limit.

Brown, a furniture fitter, of Lamberton Avenue, Stirling, pled guilty at Stirling Sheriff Court to drink-driving, careless driving, failing to remain at the scene after an accident and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Gordon Murphy, defending, said Brown claimed he had not had a drink for nearly 20 hours before the accident but accepted he had been drinking heavily before that.

Mr Murphy said: "He had been up at his granny's, was returning home, misjudged the corner and crashed the car.

"He then had something to drink from a bottle of vodka and was returning to the scene when he saw the police car and flagged them down.

"He said he was going to confess to his misdemeanours but when it came to it he didn't do so."

The court heard Brown had previous convictions for drink-driving and careless driving.

A victim impact statement from the owner of the Mercedes was handed to the sheriff.

Deferring sentence for reports, including as assessment of Brown's ability to carry out paid work as an alternative to custody, Sheriff Gillian Wade QC told Brown he could expect a disqualification of at least three years, together with other punishment.

She said: "I'm not going to dispose of this by way of a fine."

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