A drink-driving mum from Aberdeen crashed her car while more than three-and-a-half times the legal alcohol limit – with a child in the back seat.
Kireeanne Brownlee crashed into another vehicle while on the wrong side of the B993 Port Elphinstone to Kemnay road.
Other drivers then stopped to make sure those involved were alright and saw Brownlee get out and check on a child in the backseat.
The 29-year-old mum then failed a breath test and was arrested.
Kireeanne Brownlee ‘incredibly ashamed’
Fiscal depute Lydia Ross told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the incident happened on August 3.
She said witnesses’ attention was drawn to Brownlee due to the manner of her driving, and a collision then took place with her car on the wrong side of the road.
Brownlee pled guilty to driving with 80 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 22 microgrammes.
Defence agent Debbie Ginniver said her client had been struggling significantly with her mental health at the time of the incident and was going through a break-up.
She said Brownlee had consumed “a few glasses of wine” at her partner’s house before having an anxiety attack.
‘I’m sure you regret it’
Ms Ginniver said the mum-of-two then made the “reckless and foolish decision” to drive to her mum’s address to seek help to calm down.
She added: “She’s incredibly ashamed of her actions.
“She’s never even had a speeding ticket and has no previous convictions.
“She advises me she hasn’t consumed alcohol since the date of the offence.
“She now realises she was using it as a crutch for her mental health.”
Sheriff Margaret Hodge told Brownlee: “I’m sure I don’t need to spell out to you the consequences of your decision which, as your solicitor says, was reckless and foolish.
“I’m sure you regret it.”
The sheriff fined Brownlee, of Mugiemoss Park, Aberdeen, £580 and banned her from driving for a year.
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