Drink driver detected after car got ‘stuck’ on central reservation of dual-carriageway

Police spotted the vehicle at 1.20am on November 30, 2021, Ballymena Magistrates Court was told.

Selina McCartney (34), of Pennyhill Drive, Ballymena, admitted driving with excess alcohol and also possession of cocaine.

A prosecutor told the court that police saw the defendant standing beside the vehicle with her clothing “covered in mud”.

The defendant told police she had taken a “wrong turn” and ended up struck in the central reservation.

Police detected a strong smell of alcohol and then a small wrap of cocaine was found.

The defendant had an alcohol in breath reading of 48 - the legal limit is 35.

She told police she had drank 10 cans of Bud Light over a five-hour period and had taken a “small amount of cocaine”.

Defence solicitor Stewart Ballentine said the defendant had been on a “rare night out” at a friend’s house in Cloughmills and was unable to get a taxi home.

He said the defendant was “very remorseful”.

The lawyer said the defendant was “very embarrassed” about the “small amount of drugs” and was “not an habitual user” and it was a “one-off situation”.

The defendant had a previous related drink-related matter and for the latest case she was banned from driving for three years and fined £400.