Woman who was caught drink-driving struggled to get into police car

Nicola Duffy, whose son died in Angus cliff-fall tragedy, was arrested after tip-off from McDonald’s staff

The mother of a tragic Dundee teenager was caught drink-driving at a Fife leisure park when she was more than four times over the limit.

Nicola Duffy, whose 18-year-old son Ralphie Smith died falling from cliffs at Arbroath in 2017, was arrested after slurring her words at a McDonald’s drive-thru.

Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard she was so drunk she struggled to get into the police vehicle.

Duffy, 45, of Elricht Drive, Dunfermline, appeared for sentencing after she previously admitted drink-driving on November 24, in Whimbrel Place at the town’s Fife Leisure Park.

Her reading was 89 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The limit is 22 microgrammes.

Depute fiscal Jade Doig said Duffy had slowed down to let a police vehicle go before her at around 11.20pm as she drove to McDonald’s.

Another police vehicle was in the area and the officers in it were concerned about the way she was driving.

When the first police vehicle was at McDonald’s, staff told them a woman who had just ordered food at the drive-thru sounded drunk.

When police spoke to Duffy she was slurring her words and there was a strong smell of alcohol.

She failed a breath test and police noted she was “very intoxicated, struggling to get into the back of the police van,” added the depute.

The court heard Duffy had a previous drink-driving conviction from 2015.

Solicitor Stephen Morrison said there was a tragic background to his client’s offending.

He told the court her teenage son died in 2017 and that two of her cousins were killed when violence broke out at a family get-together in Dundee while he was still missing.

Mr Morrison said Duffy intended to move back to her native Dundee in the near future.

Sheriff James MacDonald imposed a community payback order with 12 months supervision and 120 hours of unpaid work.

He also banned Duffy from driving for 40 months.