A77 drink driver had just lost job

Jul 10 2009

A WOMAN who went for a drink with workmates the day she was made redundant found herself in the dock at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last week.

Donna Paterson, 27, of Howford, Mauchline, was fined £200 and banned from driving for a year after she admitted driving on the A77 while over the drink limit.

She had a breath/alcohol count of 54 microgrammes when stopped by police at Kilmarnock’s Grassyards interchange on June 12.

Stewart McMillan, prosecuting, said police were called after Paterson’s car was involved in an accident. She was taken to Crosshouse Hospital.

Simon Brown, defending, said: “She had been made redundant that day and been with colleagues so drink had been taken in the afternoon.”

Paterson, he said, had later phoned her mother who had asked her to come round because she was distressed at losing her job. She believed that she would be fit to drive as it was four or five hours after her last drink.

Said the solicitor: “Because she was upset she was involved in a minor collision. A member of the public stopped to give her assistance and the police were contacted.”