A repeat drink-driver has been warned she was a “danger” to herself and “everyone else”.
Susan Clark drove to and from a hospital appointment while under the influence – and then drank more alcohol before getting out of the car and going inside.
The 59-year-old was described as having a “problematic relationship” with alcohol and used it as a “coping mechanism”.
But Clark, who was also convicted of drink-driving in 2005, has now been banned from the roads for 19 months and handed a hefty fine after doing it again.
Fiscal depute Andrew McMann told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the incident happened on July 26 last year on Union Grove in Aberdeen.
‘She has been fixated on the prospect of a jail sentence’
He said: “The police were in attendance at the locus having received a call from concerned neighbours.
“While there, around 10.50am, the accused returned to the locus while in possession of the car keys.”
Clark appeared drunk, slurring her words and smelling of alcohol, and admitted she had been driving.
Tests then revealed she was over the limit.
Clark, of Union Grove, Aberdeen, pled guilty to driving with 184 milligrammes of alcohol in 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 50 milligrammes.
Defence agent Ian Woodward-Nutt said his client was a former business manager but had retired due to ill-health.
He explained, as well as suffering poor mental and physical health, she “struggled with a problematic relationship with alcohol, which in part is due to her using alcohol as a coping mechanism”.
‘You don’t need me to tell you’
On the morning of the offence, he went on, Clark had been at a medical appointment at hospital and had received bad news.
Mr Woodward-Nutt said, on returning home, Clark consumed alcohol she had in her bag due to being upset before going inside.
He said: “She accepts she should not have been driving in the first place, in principle due to alcohol consumed the night before.
“The defence position is the reading given is inflated due to post-incident drinking.”
The solicitor added: “Facing prosecution has impacted on her severely. She has been fixated on the prospect of a jail sentence.”
Sheriff Margaret Hodge told her: “You don’t need me to tell you you were a danger to yourself and everyone else when you were driving to and from the hospital.”
She banned her from driving for 19 months and fined her £840.
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