A 62-year-old woman who travelled to a Forres supermarket more than five times over the legal alcohol limit has been banned from driving.
Carol Bell was spotted by a member of the public buying alcohol from Tesco and then driving too slow for the roads in the evening of January 27 this year and raised the alarm.
At Elgin Sheriff Court, Bell appeared to discover her fate.
Concern over her driving
The court heard that when police attended Bell’s property following her supermarket trip they found alcohol on a table and the engine of her car, an orange Citroen C3, still warm.
“[The witness] noticed the accused’s vehicle driving very slow,” fiscal depute Shay Treanor said.
“She went into the shop where she saw the accused buying alcohol. As she was following the accused’s vehicle she became concerned with the manner of driving.”
When tested, constables recorded a reading on Bell of 112mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath. The legal limit is just 22mg.
‘We’re not going to see her again’
Bell’s defence agent, Robert Cruickshank, said she was “ashamed” by her actions.
He said: “It is out of character.
“The court will be concerned with the reading. I have the impression she is thoroughly ashamed.
“She will do what is necessary. If she needs help, she will take that help.
“The impression I have from my client is we’re not going to see her again.”
Sentencing her, Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov ordered Bell to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work within the community over the next nine months.
She also banned Bell from the roads for 16 months, saying she could reduce that period by a quarter with the completion of a drink-drivers rehabilitation scheme.