A pupil support worker who got behind the wheel after drinking has been banned – for moving her car just 4ft.
Theo Noble had been visiting her aunt in Aberdeen’s Garthdee Road when she decided to shift her grey Toyota Yaris which had been parked further down the street.
But the mother-of-two was spotted blocking the road, and a concerned passer-by contacted the police.
Yesterday Nobel appeared at the city’s sheriff court and admitted driving with 67 microgrammes of alcohol in her breath. The legal limit is 22mcg.
Fiscal depute Jamie Dunbar said that after she shifted her motor, she went and spoke to those watching nearby.
He said they thought they could smell alcohol on her breath, and were concerned she may have been over the limit.
When police arrived at about 12.20am on April 17, the 43-year-old admitted she had been driving the car and a breath test showed she was over the limit.
Representing Noble, who sat and cried in the dock, solicitor Neil McRobert said his client had only wanted to move the car closer to her aunt’s house.
He said she had been visiting her and had been drinking that evening, but she had intended to sleep there that night.
The court heard she later decided to move the car slightly, but had no intentions to go any further.
Mr McRobert said when she got into her Toyota Yaris she was wearing “inappropriate footwear”, and as she put her foot on the accelerator it slipped and the car “spurred forwards”.
He said the loss of Nobel’s licence would impact greatly on her family life and that her children, who are 18 and 12, would also be affected.
The court heard Noble, of 10 Wellington Drive, Nigg, was deeply remorseful for her actions but that she accepted that despite moving the car only a few feet away that she had broken the law.
Sheriff Margaret Hodge disqualified for a year, but referred her to the drink drivers’ rehabilitation scheme. If she completes the course, she will be eligible for a three-month reduction on her ban.
