HUM-DINGER OF A DRIVING CHARGE

SHIRLEY Ann Linda MacDonald, 52, is accused of recording one of the highest ever blood alcohol readings in the Far North’s history — 0.354% — after crashing her Hummer into her Trinity Park home. Yesterday her case was remanded in court until later this month. Find out why.

A WOMAN accused of being more than seven times over the limit when she crashed her four-wheel drive into her Trinity Park home has questioned the charge and said she was never pulled over by police.

Shirley Ann Linda MacDonald, 52, was allegedly spotted by an off-duty police officer swerving her Hummer across the road on December 6, then hitting her Selwyn Circuit property.

She was allegedly on her way home from buying cigarettes.

Police have alleged she recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.354 per cent.

But, during her first appearance in the Cairns Magistrates Court yesterday, she said she was not pulled over for a breath test.

“When the police came around to my house and they said that they had seen me driving, they hadn’t actually pulled me up,” she said.

She represented herself during the brief court appearance yesterday with Magistrate Sandra Pearson asking whether she should get some legal advice.

“I think I might, yes," she said.

She is also facing a further two counts of unlicensed driving after she was allegedly caught behind the wheel twice on December 9 and 13.

She did not enter a plea to any of the charges and the case was adjourned until January 29.

The alleged blood alcohol reading is considered to be among the highest ever recorded in the Far North.

It comes less than two years after a 44-year-old Tablelands woman was caught at more than nine times the limit with a reading of 0.454.

Police found Nicole Amor, 44, slumped over her steering wheel after crashing into a bollard on a Yungaburra street in February 2016.

She narrowly avoided serving jail time but was fined $3000 and had her driver’s licence suspended for two years.

A 22-year-old Kuranda man was also caught in October 2016 with a reading of 0.4 per cent after being spotted by police on the Kennedy Highway.

Speaking to the Cairns Post in 2016, a health expert said anyone with a reading of more than 0.3 per cent was at risk of losing consciousness, although body size and alcohol tolerance played a factor in intoxication.