Panicked when the police arrived

When police arrived in the area where she lived a 44-year-old woman who had been drinking and driving panicked and left her car in the middle of the road.

Asta Kaspariene, Clendinning Way, Portadown was charged with driving with excess alcohol on May 15 last year.

Last Wednesday’s sitting of Craigavon Magistrates Court heard that police received a call about a welfare matter at Clendinning Way in Portadown

They arrived at 8.15pm and saw a car in the middle of the road.

A young blond female looked at police before getting out of the car. She was wearing a light blue jacket and went into a neighbouring property.

Police couldn’t get an answer at the address they were called to but noticed, in the abandoned vehicle, house keys and two unopened bottles of wine. They managed to get car keys from a house and moved the vehicle off the road.

Around 9pm more police attended and when the defendant was outside a property an officer said he had seen her driving earlier that evening.

She was now wearing a different top and her hair was in a different style.

A breath test gave a reading of 70, twice the legal limit.

She said she had been in Belfast and after she came back she had drunk the best part of a bottle of wine with a friend and a beer. She totally denied anything about driving.

A solicitor representing the defendant said she panicked when police arrived at her home.

District Judge Amanda Brady imposed a fine of £200 and banned her from driving for 15 months. She certified the defendant suitable for the drink drive course.