Driver crashes at bottle- o in front of cops

A WOMAN has been fined for a drink- driving incident in which she crashed her car outside a bottleshop in front of police.

Sheryl Yvonne Kline, 54, pleaded guilty in Townsville Magistrates Court to driving while over the middle alcohol limit and wilful damage.

The court heard that police saw a sedan, driven by a female driver, driving erratically about 11.25pm on August 19.

Police prosecutor Mark Fenlon said the driver “signalled to police to move as she wanted to make a U- turn”.

“The sedan then turned very slowly into the drivethrough area of the bottleshop area attached to the hotel. The sedan then attempted to exit the drive- through between two concrete posts and collided with a sign.” The court heard when police breath- tested Kline, she returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.149.

Defence solicitor Terry Browne said Kline was staying in a Townsville hotel after driving from the Gold Coast on her way back to Mount Isa.

“She got to the hotel room and drank a bottle of wine and she was driving to get another bottle,” he said.

Mr Browne said Kline had been suffering personal problems at the time but had sought treatment.

Kline was fined $ 1500 and disqualified from driving from two years.

Magistrate Howard Osbourne said he imposed a lengthy disqualification “because I don’t think you should be on the road for a fair length of time”.