£1000 fine and ban for Falkirk driver three times limit who was 'slurring her words’

Carrie Ann Welsh, 41, had pulled into a layby to console her partner who was upset at the death of his mother, Falkirk Sheriff Court was told.

But it was 1.30 am and police spotted Welsh's BMW 2181 Sport in the layby on Ice House Brae, Laurieston, Falkirk.

Prosecutor Rose Wilson said: "The officers immediately smelt alcohol from the vehicle, and the accused was slurring her words.

"They carried out the usual roadside drinking tests."

Welsh, a kitchen designer, was arrested and taken to Dunfermline Police Station where she provided a breath sample which proved on analysis to contain 63 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres, nearly three times the limit, which is 22.

Mother-of-two Welsh, of Brightons, Falkirk, pleaded guilty to drink-driving.

Defence agent Gordon Addison told the court: "Her partner had phoned her to come and get him. He'd been out drinking. His mother had died, he was very upset, and didn't want to get a taxi.

"She had been drinking at dinner time and she felt fine.

"She got up, she went to get him, and she pulled over into this layby on the way up the road because he was just so distraught.

"When the police came along, of course he was stinking of drink and as she rolled down the window they could smell that."

Sheriff Christopher Shead imposed the fine and disqualified Welsh from driving for a year.

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