SA woman in UK drink driving bust

DRIVING under the influence on New Year’s Eve had dire consequences for South African Brenda Zitha – she now faces being deported from the UK.

The motorist pleaded guilty in the Furness Magistrate’s Court on Monday to drink driving after police noticed her Mercedes-Benz travelling erratically.

The North West Evening Mail reported yesterday that a breath test found 60 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of her breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.

Police then discovered she did not have a valid licence‚ no insurance and had been living in the UK illegally since November 2015.

Duncan Nightingale‚ her legal representative‚ told the court that she had travelled to the UK on a sixmonth visa in May 2015 as part of a relationship, but the relationship ended leaving her without enough money to return to South Africa.

She purchased a 2003 model Mercedes without realising how expensive insurance would be in the UK.

The court disqualified her from driving for 17 months‚ endorsed her licence with six penalty points and ordered her to pay fines of £240‚ plus a victim surcharge of £30 and court costs of £85 (a total of about R6 000).

Zitha was taken back to the police station and will be moved to a detention centre while immigration officials investigate her illegal stay in the UK. — TMG Digital