Drink-drive model fails in bid to cut road ban
Sheriff refuses application to reduce five-year order
A model who got behind the wheel in Paisley while five times the limit has failed in a bid to have her drink-driving ban slashed.
Sharon Maxwell was banned from the road for five years at Paisley Sheriff Court in 2015 after being caught drink-driving after sinking drinks in the town’s Burgh Bar.
Maxwell blew a breath reading of 104 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath – when the legal limit is just 22 – on February 22, 2015, and pleaded guilty to drink-driving and running a red light.
Her case was adjourned for a “special reasons” hearing to take place, with Maxwell telling the court she had got behind the wheel while under the influence to flee her violent ex-boyfriend.
She claimed she had been the victim of years of domestic abuse at the hands of her unnamed expartner, saying he had previously hurt her with a hot iron, used a knife to cut her face and punched her in the face – leaving her suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.
She said she spotted him driving passed as she waited for a taxi outside the Burgh Bar and feared he would beat her - making her get in her car after he shouted: “I’m going to get you, you f****** bitch.”
In November 2015, after hearing that Maxwell was previously banned for 18 months for drink-driving in 2010, Sheriff David Pender spared her jail for the offences.
He placed her on a Community Payback Order, giving her nine months to carry out 250 hours’ unpaid work, and said: “I’m going to deal with this by imposing a lengthy period of disqualification to reflect the very high reading.
“You will be disqualified from driving for five years in the public interest because of the high reading.”
As well as the five-year driving ban, Sheriff Pender fined her £200 for running the red light and £200 for missing an earlier court date.
Drivers who have been banned from the road can apply to the courts to have their licence reinstated after they have served half of their road ban, and Maxwell launched a bid to be allowed to drive again ahead of schedule.
When the case called at Paisley Sheriff Court on Monday Maxwell, of Beith, North Ayrshire, was due to represent herself during the hearing and argue her own case as to why she should be allowed to take to the roads again
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But Sheriff Pender refused her bid – telling her he believed the sentence he imposed on her was just.
He said: “I can’t do anything until I get a police report and the police report is not available today.
“I can continue the case to August 20, if you wish me to do so, to obtain the police report.
“I remember this case. I imposed a five-year ban.
“The mandatory period was three years but I imposed five years due to the very high reading.
“This was a bad offence and, in my view, it would be an inadequate period of time if I were to restore your licence today.
“So I can refuse your application in four or five weeks’ time or I can refuse it today – the police report really isn’t going to make any difference.”
Maxwell, who once claimed to have had an affair with former Rangers player Nacho Novo, then told the Sheriff to refuse it and asked if she would be able to apply to have the licence restored again in the future.
Sheriff Pender explained: “There is a provision where you can apply again after a certain period of time.
“If you take legal advice you’ll be told what that period is.”