Drink-drive model banned from road
STUDENT NURSE CLAIMED SHE WAS VICTIM OF REVENGE PLOT BY MAN SHE HAD ACCUSED OF SEX ASSAULT
AN Instagram model who was caught driving home drunk has claimed police who arrested her were tipped off by a man she had accused of sexual assault.
Jordi Leigh, 24, was almost twice the alcohol limit after officers stopped her at the wheel of her white Audi A1 sports car.
But the student nurse – who has 30,000 followers on her social media page – claimed she was the victim of a revenge sting after police had refused to charge her suspected attacker.
She said on the night of her arrest she had bumped into the suspect at a bar and she decided to drive home to get away from him as she felt ‘threatened’.
She said she was only arrested as the unnamed man called police to give the details of her car – and to say she had been drinking.
Police confirmed officers had received prior ‘intelligence’ the Audi driver might be drunk before they stopped her.
At Manchester magistrates court Leigh initially denied driving with excess alcohol. But on the day of her trial she pleaded guilty to the charge and was banned from the roads for 17 months.
She was also fined £120 plus £115 in costs and surcharges.
The incident happened on May 23 after Leigh – who appeared in court under her full name Jordania Leigh Williamson-Blessing – was spotted driving the Audi near her home in Sale.
Prosecutor Eileen Rodgers said: “She was seen by an officer in the area and at the particular time she was stopped there was a presence of alcohol in system.
“The reason why the officer stopped her was that he had received intelligence that the driver of the vehicle possibly had consumed alcohol.
“He stopped the vehicle and spoke to Miss Williamson-Blessing. She admitted to consuming alcohol and she did smell of intoxicants.
“She gave the explanation that she had seen a male out in the Altrincham area whom she had previously accused of a sexual offence against her.”
Tests showed Leigh, who has been working at Salford Royal Hospital whilst studying for her Salford University nursing degree, had 66 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.
In mitigation her lawyer David Campbell said: “The situation is the defendant had been in the Altrincham area and gone for a night out. She had driven there with the intention of leaving her car and picking it up the next day. But unfortunately while out in one of the bars she encountered a male person whom she previously made a complaint to police as regards his behaviour.
“As regards to her complaint of a sexual nature, police had decided they would not authorise charges and unfortunately when she saw that gentleman that evening she felt threatened and therefore left the premises.
“She then drove home and someone was in the car with her. The person who reported her to police must have been the person she previously had made a complaint against.’’
Mr Campbell added: “She has not been in university this term and has been signed off suffering from anxiety and an anxiety disorder and this comes from the incident with regard to the gentleman. References speak very highly of her and she clearly is a person who’s found herself in a difficult situation.”
Leigh was the offered the chance of drink-drive awareness course which could reduce her ban to a year.