SNS GroupA teenage armed robber took police on a 120mph chase after holding up a petrol station on way to meet a female friend.
William MacLeod targeted the Esso Kessock garage in Inverness on May 9 this year.
The 19-year-old then made a getaway in a stolen motor he had taken in a carjacking around 20 minutes earlier.
MacLeod had been drinking and also did not have a driving licence.
He went on to pick up his friend who was left scared in the vehicle as he raced away from police during a high speed 15-minute chase.
It was only when he lost control of the car that he was finally caught.
MacLeod pleaded guilty to a number of charges at the High Court in Glasgow on Friday.
The teenager will be sentenced at a later date.
MacLeod had messaged the 18 year-old girl at 8pm that night asking if she wanted to go for “a spin”, which she assumed was a run in a car.
He said he would travel to her home to collect her.
The motor that MacLeod ended up in was a Volvo he stole outside a Tesco branch in Inverness around an hour later.
A woman was sitting in the passenger seat as her husband went to the shop.
Prosecutor Lindsey Dalziel said: “MacLeod opened the driver’s door, bent down to look at her and aggressively stated: ‘Get out the car now’.”
She immediately leapt out as the thug got in and sped off.
At 9.53pm, MacLeod turned up at the petrol station to fill up the car.
As he walked to the counter appearing to pay, he told a worker: “Give me all your money. Open the till. I have a gun.”
He pulled out what looked like a black-coloured firearm.
The worker was said to be “scared for his life” as MacLeod snatched £130 in banknotes.
MacLeod then called his friend to say he would be with her in 15 minutes.
Police had been alerted meantime about the carjacking and the robbery.
MacLeod was initially clocked driving north on the A9. He went on to collect the girl at her home.
Ms Dalziel said: “MacLeod then drove out a cul-de-sac mounting the kerb to get past a number of marked police vehicles which had congregated.”
He initially went at speeds of 62mph in a 20mph zone as officers chased after him.
MacLeod was going so fast he had to brake hard at junctions.
He slowed down enough at one stage to allow the distressed girl to get out.
But, while going at no less than 95mph, MacLeod switched off the Volvo’s lights as police continued the pursuit.
Ms Dalziel said MacLeod put the lights back on and went on to take bends “at speeds in excess of 120mph”.
It was only when he reached a roundabout in Ardullie in Ross-shire that he lost control, which allowed police to block him.
A test revealed MacLeod had 55mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 22mg.
An imitation handgun used in the robbery was found in the footwell of the Volvo.
The weapon was capable of firing ball-bearing pellets.
The teenager MacLeod had picked up that night was also spoken to by police.
She recalled seeing police in the street when he got her and she believed he would stop.
Ms Dalziel said: “She was scared, crying and pulled her knees to her chest. She had asked MacLeod what he was doing.
“She repeatedly asked him to stop, but he said nothing.
“Eventually he said ‘fine’ and slowed the vehicle down, but did not stop.”
The charges MacLeod pleaded guilty to included assault and robbery as well as dangerous and drink driving.
Sentencing was deferred for reports.
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