Drink-driving mother was five times the limit outside school

A Murthly mother who ploughed her husband’s Land Rover into a ditch outside a primary school has avoided jail.

Kim Marsh told police who attended the scene of the crash that she suffered from anxiety and that alcohol “made her feel better”.

She was discovered behind the wheel of her partner’s £11,000 white SUV in a ditch outside Murthly Primary School at around 7.40am on March 12.

Depute fiscal Carol Whyte told Perth Sheriff Court: “Police were asked to attend a single vehicle road traffic accident on March 12.

“The weather was dry, the surface of the road was damp and traffic was light.

“Police found the accused sitting on the drivers’ side of the vehicle, which had gone into a ditch on the side of the B9099 facing towards the village of Murthly. “Officers could smell alcohol. “They conducted a roadside breath test then conducted a second test at police headquarters in Perth.

“She recorded a breath alcohol level of 131 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath.

“The accused was cautioned and charged and replied: ‘I suffer from anxiety and depression and alcohol makes me feel better.”

The court was told Marsh was seeking help for her alcohol issues.

Marsh, of Druids Park, Murthly, admitted driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

Sherrif Gillian Wade banned Marsh from driving for two years, reduced from three in light of her early guilty plea and ordered her to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, warning her it was a direct alternative to jail.