A Hogmanay holiday in the highlands ended in hospital for a PhD student who decided to drink and drive.
Ella Hall-Younger was visiting the region with friends over the new year but when the revelry turned sour she decided to get behind the wheel.
She later crashed her car and was taken to hospital, where blood tests revealed she was more than three times the legal drink-drive limit.
Hall-Younger, 25, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court to plead guilty to a single drink-driving charge.
Fiscal depute Emma MacEwan told the court that at around 1.30am on January 1 of this year police responded to a call and traced a red Citroen C1 car that appeared to have been involved in a collision on the A87 at Dornie.
“They could see the female accused within the driver’s side,” Ms MacEwan told the court.
Ambulance and fire service were called to the scene to assist.
Driver had ‘alcohol on her breath’
When the woman got out of the car police witnesses could smell alcohol on her breath and noted that she was unsteady on her feet and her speech was slurred.
She was taken by ambulance to Broadford Hospital where she was kept overnight.
Having identified herself as the driver of the vehicle, Hall-Younger agreed to provide a sample of blood, which when analysed revealed her have 172 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath – more than three times the legal limit of 50 milligrammes.
Solicitor Graham Mann said his client had been on holiday touring with a number of friends when there had been a difference of opinion between parties.
‘A terrible error in judgment’
Feeling “anxious” about the situation, Hall-Younger had “panicked” and decided to drive –Â a choice Mr Mann described as a “terrible error in judgment”.
He said his client, a PhD student studying cancer biology, has never been in trouble before and had a previously unblemished driving record. He added that she had not driven since the incident.
Sheriff David Harvie told Hall-Younger, of Oakfield Avenue, Glasgow, that her actions represented “a serious misjudgment” and fined her £320.
He also banned her from the roads for 12 months, which could be reduced by three months if she takes part in a self-funded drink-drivers rehabilitation course.