Drink-driving doctor ‘used alcohol to deal with crippling PMS’
A SUICIDAL doctor who used alcohol to ‘self-medicate’ for crippling PMS caused a crash that left a man in a wheelchair.
Dr Julia Morch-Siddall, 50, downed beers behind the wheel before inflicting ‘catastrophic’ injuries on a father-of-three when she smashed her Land Rover Freelander into his vehicle after swerving onto the wrong side of the road.
The consultant anaesthetist was spared jail yesterday after a court heard she ‘took drink as self-medication’ for premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) – a severe form of premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
Morch-Siddall’s barrister said she was suffering from ‘severe mental illness’ that was heightened during the time of the month she suffers PMDD.
He said she had intended ‘to drive into some stationary object with the view of ending her life’ on the day of the crash in January.
Newcastle Crown Court heard how Morch-Siddall downed fourand-a-half cans of Stella Artois lager in her car before ‘meandering’ across lanes on the A1 in Gateshead, hitting the central reservation several times.
A concerned witness called the police and followed her car, getting out of his own vehicle as she stalled at some traffic lights on the A692 in an attempt to talk to her and grab her keys.
But the car was keyless, and the respected doctor sped off through a red light before swerving onto the wrong side of the road and smashing into another vehicle. The victim suffered life-changing injuries and spent months in a wheelchair after fracturing both feet in the crash. He now uses a crutch and has mobility problems.
He told the court: ‘This could so easily have been fatal, and it would have devastated my children. This
‘Drinking beer behind the wheel’
has had a catastrophic impact on both my personal life and employment. I face a long road to recovery. The future appears bleak. I just want it to go back to the life I once had.’
He said that he had been due to fly to Florida in April to propose to his partner, but was unable to do so after the accident. Prosecu- tor Emma Dowling said MorchSiddall appeared to be remorseful in a police interview but admitted she ‘could not remember anything’ about the incident.
The NHS consultant, from Heddonon-the-Wall, Northumberland, was given an 18-month jail sentence suspended for 18 months after pleading guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and failing to provide a specimen.
Christopher Knox, defending, said the doctor suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and PMDD – a disabling disorder which affects around 3-8 per cent of menstruating women.
Mr Knox said: ‘She had clearly got suicidal thoughts. She had an intention to drive into some stationary object with the view of ending her life. She had a very severe mental illness at the time we are talking about. She took drink as self-medication, unsuccessfully but compulsively on this unfortunate day.’
Mr Knox added that Morch-Siddall is ‘now a fit and proper person practising her profession’ and that her patients have all been ‘properly cared for’.
He said she has ‘led a completely blameless life’ and previously worked for the World Heath Organisation in places such as the West Bank and West Africa.
Judge Robert Adams, who described the defendant as a ‘very intelligent woman’, said: ‘There is enormous personal mitigation – there must be a significant reduction. You are considered to be a very low risk of re-offending.’
Morch-Siddall was also given a three-year driving ban and must complete 80 hours unpaid work.