Woman 'met man on a dating site' and then made off in his car when he had gone to the toilet
A woman with 129 convictions met a man on a dating site and when he got out to go to the toilet she made off in his car and crashed.
Kerry Anne Crane (35), originally form Downpatrick but with an address given as Bleachgreen Terrace in Belfast, was three times the drink drive limit and had been a disqualified driver. She was disorderly with police and spat directly into an officer's face.
On Tuesday, she appeared via video link from prison at Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena.
She pleaded guilty to a number of offences - assault on police, disorderly behaviour, resisting police, aggravated vehicle taking, absence of insurance, driving whilst disqualified and driving with excess alcohol.
Around 10.25pm on April 3 this year the defendant had driven a Golf car into the rear of a vehicle parked at the side of Ballyrobin Road near Belfast International Airport.
The Golf reversed and then drove forward hitting the parked car again. The owner of the parked car took the keys from the Golf and when police arrived they noted Crane had slurred speech. She refused to give her details and was verbally abusive to police.
She refused to give a preliminary breath test. She struggled and kicked out and spat in the face of an officer. When taken to a police station she had an alcohol in breath reading of 107 - the legal limit is 35. It then emerged she had taken the Golf from a man without his permission.
A defence solicitor said the defendant had met a man on a "dating site". "He came and collected her in Belfast. He brought her up to Ballymena. I am not going to get into what happened in the car but whenever he got out of the car to go to the toilet she took the car and ended up crashing it."
He said "it was not the case were she went and deliberately stole the car".
The solicitor said the defendant "suffers from problems with impulsivity and this was an impulsive action". He said she is "vulnerable" and has "alcohol dependency".
District Judge Nigel Broderick said they were "very serious" offences involving spitting in an officer's face.
He said the defendant had a "quite appalling" record of 129 previous convictions and is "a clear and present danger to the public generally". The judge said Crane had convictions for drink driving and also poses a danger to road users.
The defendant was given a three months jail term and was banned from driving for five years. The judge said the sentence should be served at the end of a current eight months prison term Crane is serving.
She had bail in the sum of £500 fixed for appeal but no application was made for her to be released.