A nurse caught trying to drive home while intoxicated after a nightshift blamed Covid and an alcohol-laced football bus stash for her crime.
Nicola Kerr said she had lost her sense of taste due to the coronavirus, leading to an inability to detect that there was alcohol in soft drinks she had taken from the football supporters’ snacks.
Kerr, 41, refused to provide police with a breath sample after they found her smelling of alcohol, slurring her speech and in the driver’s seat of her private-plated Kia Ceed, with empty alcohol containers beside her.
Her solicitor told the court that the containers – including a gin can in the centre console and a wine bottle in the driver’s door – were there because her son had emptied out a bag of recycling so he could use it for his football kit.
At Forfar Sheriff Court, the 41-year-old first offender, of Troup Lane in Laurencekirk, was banned from driving and fined.
She has been suspended from work.
Drunkenness noticed by colleagues
Fiscal depute Stephanie Hendry said Kerr, an agency nurse with Staffscanner at Benholm Care Home, was working a nightshift from 7.45pm on December 11 2023 until 8am.
Around 15 minutes before she finished, day shift staff arrived and were told by her colleagues they believed she was under the influence of alcohol.
Seeing Kerr was unsteady on her feet, they feared she planned to drive home and alerted police.
Ms Hendry said: “At 8.20am, police arrived at the locus and traced the accused in the driver’s seat with the engine on.
“They observed her to be alone and attempting to drink from a container and lighting a cigarette.
“At this time, a wine bottle could be observed in the centre console.
“Pcs knocked on the window to gain attention.
“After multiple knocks, the accused opened the driver’s door but she appeared to be confused.”
Police smelled alcohol Kerr’s speech was slurred.
She was required to provide a breath specimen but after three failed attempts police considered none of her efforts to be genuine.
As she was arrested, police noticed a gin can in the centre console and a wine bottle in the driver’s door.
She was conveyed to West Bell Street HQ in Dundee where she refused to provide breath samples.
Away day provisions
At an earlier hearing, Kerr admitted failing to provide police with samples.
Her solicitor said: “She had, before her work, picked up a bag of snacks and drinks from the kitchen.
“Within that were bottles of juice. Ms Kerr did not know that was leftover snacks and crisps and beverages that had come off one of the football supporter buses that her husband had been on.
“She had been suffering from Covid and as a result has lost a significant amount of her sense of taste and smell.
“She had most likely been drinking one of the bottles which had been diluted and presented as a soft drink.
“It has caused a lot of upset, personally and professionally.
“As a result, she has been suspended. That has obviously caused a lot of emotional and financial stress to the family.”
Kerr’s lawyer said the container police caught her drinking from was a Pepsi can.
Embarrassment
The solicitor added: “It’s her first offence, albeit quite a significant one.
“She’s embarrassed, she’s never been in trouble before.
“She has not drunk alcohol since. She also has not driven.
“She is a professional woman – she’s worked very hard.”
Prosecutors asked Sheriff Garry Sutherland to forfeit her car but he opted against this.
He instead fined her £400, plus a £20 victim surcharge and banned her from driving for a year.
