A woman was found hiding in a bush after crashing her car while almost four times the legal alcohol limit.
Sacha King jumped in her car after a row with her boyfriend despite having been drinking.
When she crashed a short distance away, police were called but arrived to find the vehicle empty and the driver missing.
After a brief search, they found the 33-year-old attempting to hide in a nearby bush and arrested her.
‘Things came to a head in the Christmas period’
Fiscal depute Tom Procter told Aberdeen Sheriff Court police were alerted to the crash around 9.51pm on January 4 on the unclassified road between Netherly and Portlethen.
He said: “Police attended and found the vehicle in question with frontal damage and the airbags deployed.
“Officers carried out a search of the area and found the accused hiding within a nearby bush.”
She then failed a breath test and was arrested.
‘Rash decision’
King, of Balquharn Drive, Portlethen, pled guilty to driving with 86 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 22 microgrammes.
Defence agent Gregor Kelly said his client appeared with no previous convictions.
He explained her mental health had been suffering following a difficult divorce which led to a “perfect storm” around the time of the offence.
Mr Kelly said: “Things came to a head in the Christmas period.
“She had a minor argument with her new partner and took the rash decision to absent herself from the house having consumed alcohol and took the car and crashed a very short distance away in a rural locale.”
Sheriff David Clapham disqualified King from driving for a year and fined her £260.
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