Failed to give breath samples

[Nwicker60]

Mother drank to cope with tragic news she would lose only daughter

A COURT head of how a mother turned to drink after being told that her only child had only a matter of months to live.
Ann Flett used alcohol to help her cope with the pain that she was going to lose her daughter Diane, Wick Sheriff Court heard yesterday.
Flett got a visit from the police after they received information about the manner of her driving, on September 1, last year.
At Wick Sheriff Court yesterday she admitted having failed to provide two samples of breath at the local police station and was fined £150 and banned for a year.
Pleas of not guilty to additional charges of driving while unfit through drink and attempting to pervert the course of justice by drinking from a bottle of whisky at her home, were accepted by David Barclay, prosecuting.
The 61-year-old was arrested at her home at Corrigal, Main Street, Watten after a positive breath test.
However Mr Barclay said that when she was required to give two samples of breath at the police station she didn’t breath long enough to give a reading on the intoximeter. Flett claimed that she was having difficulty for medical reasons but a doctor who examined her, a short time later, found no evidence of this.
Flett’s car was impounded when she appeared in court, initially, on September 3 and Mr Barclay formally moved for forfeiture of the vehicle.
Solicitor Craig Wood said that the accused’s daughter had died from cancer in January, last year . Flett was told earlier that her daughter had only months to live but shared the information with her husband, only.
Mr Wood continued: “The accused will be the first to say that she used to enjoy a drink, but when all this started, she began to drink very heavily to kill the pain of trying to deal with it. Since Diane’s death, Mrs Flett has been staying at home most of the time and can’t bear to go into her daughter’s room.”
The solicitor continued that, on the day in question, Flett, in a depressed state, had driven into Wick, initially to arrange a memorial stone for her daughter but had gone to a supermarket, instead, before heading for home.
Sheriff Andrew Berry said that taking all the circumstances into consideration, forfeiture of the accused’s car would not be appropriate and he repelled the fiscal’s motion.
Flett was advised that she could reduce her disqualification by a quarter, if she successfully completed the drinks drivers rehabilitation course.