Court / Ban for drink driver who wrecked car

A WOMAN who had four times the legal maximum of alcohol in her blood hours after crashing a car has been banned from driving for 16 months.

Concerned motorists saw a car in the ditch near the Sandwater junction on the A970 at 6.45pm on 16 March. When they stopped to help Susan Leask out of the vehicle, which belonged to her sister, they saw that she was “clearly intoxicated”.

The rescuers offered to take Leask to her sister’s house in Weisdale, but when she fell asleep in the back seat and could not be roused, they decided to take her to hospital instead.

Police took a sample there at 10.25pm which revealed she had 201 milligrammes of alcohol in 100ml of blood, when the legal limit is 50.

Leask pleaded guilty to the offence which resulted in the car being written off.

Tommy Allan, defending, told Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday that the 53-year-old, whose address was given as Ladieside, Brae, was going through a tough time with the break up of a long-term relationship. She had been staying with her sister and after going back to Brae to sort things out had started drinking.

He said that Leask’s cleaning business would suffer a setback as the result of her losing her licence, and that she had paid her sister compensation for the car.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank took account of it being a first offence and banned Leask from driving for 16 months with the option to knock one-quarter off on completion of a drink drivers awareness course. She was also fined £665.