A Swedish mother who crashed her car into a ditch after drinking has blamed Brexit.
Johanna Jeppsson was found in her overturned vehicle on the Kintessack to Dyke road around 8.50pm on February 22.
She was driven home and an ambulance was called, along with police.
Elgin Sheriff Court heard that as officers made their way to Jeppson’s home, they found her car in the ditch, and noticed she smelled strongly of alcohol.
Fiscal depute Alex Swain told the court that Jeppson had been drinking throughout the day but had crashed as she tried to visit a friend.
She said: “She had red staining on her lips, her speech was slurred, pupils dilated and she was rambling.”
Jeppsson, of Ellands of Brodie, refused to give a breath specimen when asked and was arrested.
A breath test at the station showed she had 107 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 22mcg.
Jeppson’s solicitor Grant Daglish said his client had misunderstood the situation and had only refused to give a breath specimen due to shock and her ignorance of UK law.
He said: “This happened during a troubling time for her, as due to Brexit she was unable to apply for benefits which meant that she had to get a part-time job and was left in a difficult situation with catastrophic debt.
“She is not a UK citizen so cannot claim benefits and if she loses her licence today, she could become homeless.
“She lives in a remote area of Moray so her licence is important to her, her parents are trying to assist her as much as possible but they live in Sweden.”
Jeppsson admitted refusing to give a breath specimen after a police officer suspected her of being in a road accident.
Sheriff Robert McDonald took into account her personal circumstances but told her the seriousness of her offence merited a ban.
He disqualified her from driving for five months and fined her £270.
