A woman caught drunk behind the wheel twice in five months has been banned for six years.
Bogumila Ben Ammar was four times the drink-drive limit when she was first caught in January last year, after a motorist spotted her driving erratically on the Elgin to Dallas road.
And just five months later, while on bail, she crashed into a wall on the same road while three times the limit.
At Elgin Sheriff Court yesterday, Ben Ammar admitted the two drink-driving offences.
But Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov decided not to jail the 53-year-old after hearing she has already been to rehab in a desperate attempt to tackle her drink problem.
Instead, she imposed a six year-ban and put the mum on a curfew.
The court heard that the first offence was reported to police on January 14 last year.
A concerned motorist decided to follow Ben Ammar after noticing she was slowing down, speeding up and stopping suddenly as she drove along the Elgin-Dallas road.
The woman eventually overtook her and told her husband what she had seen, who urged her to contact the police.
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When officers arrived at Ben Ammar’s home in Dallas, she answered the door “unsteady” on her feet and slurring her words.
Depute fiscal Alex Swain told the court: “She confirmed that she was the owner of the car but insisted that she was not driving it and had been drinking and in bed prior to their arrival.
“After she was subsequently arrested, she gave a breath specimen of 104 microgrammes of alcohol, with the legal limit being 22mcg.”
Five months later, on May 13, Ben Ammar was back on the same stretch of road when she crashed into a wall near Kellas.
A breath test revealed she was three times the drink-drive limit, with a reading of 56mcg of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.
Defence solicitor Grant Dalglish said his client had an alcohol problem.
He said: “Between 2011 and 2014 my client fell on hard times and her son has now come back across to Scotland to help out.
“She has been in Poland for rehab and for the last few months has been completely sober.
“She attends AA meetings as regularly as she can to try and wants to continue her good work.”
Ben Ammar, of Struan Grove, was disqualified from driving for six years and put on a year-long supervision order. She was also given a curfew for 163 days.
