A woman who was caught five times the drink-drive limit told police her reading was so high because she had drunk vodka immediately after crashing her car.
Susan Allan lost her job as a meter-reader and was banned from the roads following the incident on the B999 Aberdeen to Tarves road on December 22 last year.
The 59-year-old had been driving home from her daughter’s house – having already consumed alcohol – when her black BMW 1 Series left the road at around 7.45pm.
She then moved over to the passenger seat and reached for the bottle once more to ease her distress.
When police arrived at the scene in Tarves, they found she was more than five times the legal limit and had a half-empty bottle of vodka under a seat.
Allan previously admitted drink-driving and was sentenced at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday.
Defence solicitor Ian Woodward-Nutt argued that the offence appeared worse than in reality.
He said: “She had drunk alcohol before she drove, having purchased it on the way.
“After the accident she was in an extremely emotional and upset frame of mind and continued to drink vodka prior to the attendance of the police.”
Sheriff Margaret Hodge said: “It was an extraordinarily high reading.
“You should never have been anywhere near a car and were clearly a danger to yourself and others on that night.”
First-time offender Allan, who lives in Longhaven, was disqualified for 15 months and had her vehicle confiscated.