A mobility scooter user was caught drink-driving after a sudden gust of wind toppled it in the street.
Susan Taylor was heard yelling for help from within the silver scooter’s plastic canopy following the crash, which happened in Macduff while she was under the influence of alcohol.
The 53-year-old had taken her husband’s scooter to visit her daughter for a drinking session because she didn’t want to walk up a hill, Banff Sheriff Court was told.
Fiscal depute Kirsty Martin said Taylor managed to crawl from the upturned cab at around 6.40am on September 17 before admitting to concerned neighbours that she had consumed “just a little bit” of alcohol.
After making that admission she “staggered” home on foot.
Had been drinking ‘just a little bit’
Ms Martin said: “A witness observed a mobility scooter lying on the road outside Ewen Crescent and heard a shout of ‘help’ from within the canopy.
“The witness approached the mobility scooter and found the accused pushing herself out.
“At this time they noted that she appeared intoxicated and asked if she had been drinking, to which the accused replied ‘just a little bit’.
“The witness tried to put the scooter back on to its wheels and noticed the accused was staggering as she walked down the road towards Ewen Place.”
When officers paid her a visit around three hours later they found the mobility scooter still lying on its side in the road.
“The accused’s husband let them into the house and she was found lying on her bed,” Ms Martin told the court.
“Officers noted she appeared heavily intoxicated, unsteady on her feet, swaying and smelled strongly of alcohol.”
After being cautioned and charged at Fraserburgh custody suite, Taylor immediately admitted: “I’m guilty”.
Taylor borrowed scooter for health reasons
She pleaded guilty to being in charge of a motor vehicle while being unfit through drink or drugs.
Defence agent Stuart Beveridge said Taylor had borrowed the scooter from her husband the night before due to her suffering breathing difficulties from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
“She went to visit her daughter and took the scooter to assist her getting up the hill,” the solicitor added. “She had been drinking with her daughter and got up early to come home.
“It was very windy and the scooter was blown over.
“She now accepts in hindsight that she had been drinking and even though it’s a mobility scooter it still falls under the same laws.”
The court heard how Taylor, of Ewen Place, Macduff, doesn’t hold a driving licence but would receive the mandatory one-year ban regardless.
Sheriff Robert McDonald also fined her £320.
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