Trainee accountant caught drink driving
ATRAINEE accountant sped away from police while drink driving in the early hours of the morning, a court has heard.
A prosecutor said Lucy McDermott, 20, of Warmden Avenue, Accrington, accelerated to a speed of 70mph in a 40mph zone while driving an Audi A3 when a police car approached behind her.
Parveen Akhtar, prosecuting, told a hearing at Burnley Magistrates’ Court that the incident happened at around 2am on September 20 on Whalley Road in Clitheroe.
She said: “Officers in a police car approached a black Audi A3.
“What drew it to their attention was that it sped off, doing around 70mph in a 40mph zone.
“The car stopped a short distance later and when the defendant wound down the window officers could smell alcohol on her breath and her eyes appeared glazed.”
When a sample of breath was taken, McDermott was found to have 47 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the legal limit being 35.
McDermott, who had no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to a single charge of driving with excess alcohol.
Defending McDermott, Mrs Farooq said that her client disputed that she had sped off from police, had fully complied with them and had pleaded guilty to the offence at the earliest opportunity.
She said: “There is no suggestion of a police chase and she has not been charged with any speeding offence. On the evening in question she had been drinking over at a friend’s house.
“She had around four glasses of wine over a seven or eight hour period and had eaten a takeaway.
“She said she felt fine to drive.
“Her reading was at the lower end of the scale.
“This was her first time being in a police station. It has been a wake up call for her.
“She has now lost her previous good character.
“She has a job as a trainee accountant and losing her licence will affect her career.”
The chair of the bench told McDermott that her arrest and conviction ‘was a salutary lesson for her to learn’.
He added: “When driving it’s best not to have any alcohol at all.
“Hopefully we won’t see you in a court again.”
She was banned from driving for 12 months, fined £400 and ordered to pay £85 cost and a £40 surcharge.