A woman on trial accused of three attempted murders has pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving while intoxicated.
Donna Stewart was on trial at the High Court in Aberdeen accused of driving at high speed while nearly twice the drink-drive limit before ploughing her Mercedes C220 into the side of an Inverness branch of William Hill.
Three men were in the vehicle when it collided with the stone wall of the building on Grant Street on January 21 2021.
The 46-year-old was facing three attempted murder charges in relation to passengers Stephen MacDonald, John Fraser and Hugh Lowther, her partner.
She was also accused of two counts of threatening or abusive behaviour, one assault charge, one charge of driving dangerously and one charge of driving while under the influence of alcohol.
Guilty pleas accepted
Today, Stewart, of McCallum Court, Perth, entered a plea of guilty to the alternative charges of causing serious injury to her three passengers by driving dangerously while intoxicated and driving at excessive speed.
The charges go on to state that, due to her condition, she failed to negotiate a junction on Lower Kessock Street and mounted a pavement before smashing into a building at high speed.
Not guilty pleas were accepted on all remaining charges against Stewart.
Continuing Stewart’s bail, Judge Graham Buchanan told her: “In these circumstances where the trial is no longer going to carry on and where you have tendered acceptable pleas of guilty, I will adjourn until tomorrow.”
A narrative of the circumstances will be read out by advocate depute John Macpherson in court tomorrow morning.
Yesterday, jurors heard from one woman, Kerri-Ann Goodfellow, who witnessed the crash.
Ms Goodfellow, who was close by when the Mercedes-Benz collided with the wall of the bookmakers, claimed that when she reached the vehicle there was a “strong smell of alcohol coming from the car”.
She also judged Stewart’s vehicle to be travelling at a speed of between 50 and 70mph at the time of the crash, although this claim was questioned by defence advocate Janice Green.
Ms Green pointed out to Ms Goodfellow that while giving a statement to police she had assessed the speed to be “around 50mph”.
Ms Goodfellow also claimed that she saw a mystery woman in a pink jacket rummaging through the pockets of one of the injured passengers as they lay injured within the car.
The woman is understood to have left the crash site before police and emergency services arrived.
Further details of the case will be heard by Judge Buchanan tomorrow.
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