UK’s oldest woman drink driver, age 91
Pauline crashes after 76 years without an accident
‘She is not going to drive again’
A WOMAN of 91 has become one of Britain’s oldest drink drivers after she admitted crashing her high-performance car.
Pauline Horrigan smashed the Audi A3 Sportback into bollards and a lamppost in Colchester, Essex, last month.
Police were called, and they breathalysed the pensioner, who was arrested on suspicion of drink driving and failed two breathalyser tests.
Yesterday she admitted drink driving and pledged to give up her car – after 76 years behind the wheel without an accident.
She is thought to be the oldest woman to be caught drink- driving. Britain’s oldest recorded drink driver is believed to be Andrew Ogston, who was 92 when he was caught over the limit in 2014.
Horrigan, who turns 92 this week, struggled to hear the proceedings and repeatedly asked solicitors to speak up in Colchester Magistrates’ Court. She was recorded with 47 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath – just over the legal limit of 35. Prosecutor Danielle Jones told Colchester magistrates that Horrigan, of West Mersea, Essex, complied with police after she was arrested.
She added: ‘At quarter past eight in the evening on Sunday June 3, the defendant drove her grey Audi along Abbots Road, Colchester, where it is said she lost control and collided with the central reservation island, causing her vehicle damage and damage to the street furniture.
‘Police arrived and the roadside test came back as positive, the defendant was arrested and taken to Colchester Police Station. She gave two samples of breath, both being 47 in 100ml of breath.’
Graham Brown, defending, passed a letter to the bench and said his client regretted the crash and will not apply for her licence when her disqualification expires.
He said: ‘She deeply regrets this incident, total remorse as you can see from this letter she has written.
‘She is a lady who has driven 76 years without an accident and previous court appearance. As you have seen, she has taken the decision she is not going to drive again.’
Chairman of the bench Brenda Pearce credited Horrigan’s guilty plea as she stripped her of her licence and hit her with costs of £319.
Mr Ogston, from St Ives, Cambridgeshire, was banned for 16 months, fined £150 and told to pay £85 costs and a £20 victim surcharge when his case was heard by Peterborough magistrates.
Cambridgeshire Police said at the time: ‘All drivers, regardless of age, must comply with the law.’
Alcohol tends to be processed quicker by older people. Experts believe it is to do with an increase in the key enzymes that break down alcohol in the liver caused by greater exposure to the substance.
The first arrest for drink driving was in 1897, when London taxi driver George Smith crashed into a building. He was fined 25shillings – £1.25.