An Aberdeen woman got behind the wheel while more than twice the drink-drive limit because she was struggling to cope on the anniversary of her mother’s death.
Gwen Murison was caught after a concerned member of the public had seen her getting in her car after acting drunkenly in a shop.
When police followed up the anonymous-tip off, they traced the 54-year-old to her home at 339 Hilton Drive.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard yesterday that when they spoke to her, she was staggering and smelt of alcohol – but insisted she had not drunk any alcohol in the last 20 minutes, and that she had just returned from the hairdressers and shops.
But officers took her to the police station and carried out a breath test, which revealed she had 52 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 22mcg.
Murison admitted the drink-driving offence, which happened on December 31 last year, when she appeared in court yesterday.
Defence agent Graeme Morrison said the incident had happened on the anniversary of Murison’s mother’s death, and that she got emotional at that time of year.
“She recognises she does have a problem and has arranged counselling and that has reduced her drinking over the last few months,” said Mr Morrison.
Sheriff Richard McFarlane deferred to sentence to allow her time to seek more help, but told her: “Notwithstanding the sad anniversary, it is a significant amount of alcohol.”
Murison was ordered to stay out of trouble for the next four months, and given an interim driving disqualification.
