Ban and fine after crashing car while over limit

A prison worker has been banned from driving for three years after she was caught driving with almost six times the legal booze limit.

Perth Sheriff Court was told that it was the second time Jennifer Wilson had been convicted of drink/ driving.

The drunken 55-year-old was also fined £1600 after the court heard she drove off after crashing into a parked van near her home in Alyth.

But the vehicle’s number plate was left at the scene and, helped by dash cam footage from the damaged vehicle, she was later traced.

Imposing the hefty fine and disqualification, Sheriff William Wood told her although there was “some dispute”about what she had to drink after the incident, it was a high reading.

“In other circumstances it might have attracted a custodial sentence,” he added.

She had been drinking at home after the accident and told police she had downed“a couple of glasses of wine and two cans of fruit cider.”

Wilson, who lived in Airlie Street, Alyth, at the time, admitted driving with 124 microgrammes of alcohol - in excess of the legal limit of 22 - on Strathmore Terrace, Alyth, on September 25, 2020.

She also pled guilty to failing to stop after an accident and provide her personal details.

The owner of the car had noticed damage to the front of his vehicle and the number plate lying on the ground.

The incident had also been captured on dash cam.

When interviewed, the accused immediately identified herself as the car driver.

A lawyer for the accused previously told the court she had experienced“significant difficulties” in her personal life for a number of years.

She has been married for 25 years but that relationship has been failing for some considerable time.

She also had“significant health difficulties”which had led to hospitalisation because of an infection.

That had subsequently affected her immune system.

She had worked for the Scottish Prison Service for over 15 years but had now resigned from that post.

When she returned home about 6.30pm, she took more drink which she had in her bedroom.

She had now moved in with her elderly parents in Brechin, and planned to look after them.

The lawyer added that she had subsequently sold her car, was receiving alcohol counselling and was still abstaining despite her personal problems.

Wilson was fined £300 and disqualified for a previous drink/ driving offence at Perth Sheriff

Court on March 16, 2012.

Her latest disqualification was backdated to October 30 when she first appeared in court.