A drink-driving Aberdeen headmistress has refused to apologise for the bad example she set to her pupils as she was handed a “significant” road ban and fine.
Anna Royle, headteacher of Greenbrae Primary School in Bridge of Don, appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court for sentencing today after she was convicted of smashing her Audi Q2 into another car before fleeing the scene.
The 45-year-old headmistress was soon after located by police in a lane nearby while holding her dog in her arms.
She was tested and found to be nearly five times the drink-drive limit.
Following the trial, it was revealed this is Royle’s second drink-driving conviction after she was first caught in 2019.
Royle – whose current job situation was described by her solicitor as “fluid” – refused to comment or offer an apology as she fled the court after being let out a back door to avoid press photographers.
Drink-driving Aberdeen headteacher walked off after collision
During the trial, witness Paul Bate, 55, told the court how he was walking home from the supermarket at 9.30pm on October 1 last year when he heard “a massive screech” and what sounded like two cars colliding on Broomhill Road.
He arrived to find a woman behind the wheel of a red Audi Q2, which had smashed into a black Volvo and sustained significant damage to its front.
He said Royle appeared “dazed” before she got out of the car with her dog and “walked off”.
However, at a subsequent identity parade, Mr Bate was unable to say with certainty that Royle was the woman behind the wheel.
Pc Marc Davidson then took to the witness stand where he told fiscal depute Andrew McMann that, after being given a description of the woman, he had located Royle and the dog in a lane behind Broomhill Primary School.
The officer described Royle’s attitude towards the police as “hostile” and said she was “disinterested” and initially refused to take part in a roadside breath test – however, she did ultimately give a positive result.
Pc Davidson described Royle as “quite argumentative” as he cautioned and arrested her.
When tested again back at Kittybrewster Police Station, Royle gave a reading of 104 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 22mg.
Royle was ‘clearly intoxicated’
A third witness, Pc Connor Hodge, stated that Royle was “clearly intoxicated” and “uncooperative” but eventually admitted to being behind the wheel at the time of the crash.
He said they had to repeatedly ask her who was driving the vehicle before she finally replied “me”.
Upon reaching a verdict, Sheriff Christian Marney told Royle that he found the witnesses’ accounts of that night “reliable and credible”.
“I’m satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused was the driver of the vehicle,” he said.
Sheriff Marney then returned a verdict of guilty on both charges.
After the verdict was handed down it was revealed that Royle has a previous drink-driving conviction from 2019.
Today, Royle’s defence solicitor John McLeod described her as a “hard worker” both in her “chosen profession and her personal life”.
He added: “The position more generally is that things had been mounting up in her personal life and she has sought assistance – that process is ongoing.
“Her employment situation at the moment is fluid and it may take a turn for the worse.
“She knows she is going to be disqualified today.”
It is understood two other members of Greenbrae Primary staff have been appointed acting head teachers until Royle’s future is determined.
Sentencing Royle, Sheriff Marney reminded her that the offences she had been convicted of “were serious ones”.
He disqualified Royle from driving for three years, telling her this was due to the “amount she was over the limit and the proximity” of her previous drink-driving conviction.
“The disapproval of this court will also be marked by a significant financial penalty,” Sheriff Marney said, fining Royle a total of £1,200.
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