A teen drink-driver who flipped her car onto its side in Aberdeen told police “I only had half a bottle of Prosecco”.
Bethany Richardson had grabbed the bottle of booze from the fridge while on a Zoom call with pals.
And the 18-year-old then inexplicably got behind the wheel and crashed on Kirk Brae, flipping the car on its side and trapping her within.
Fiscal depute Susan Love told Aberdeen Sheriff Court: “At 11.10pm witnesses were within their home address when they heard a noise. They looked out to the street and saw a car on a patch of grass struggling to drive.
“Concerned for the manner of driving they got into their own vehicle and went to follow the vehicle.
“They drove to Kirk Brae in Cults at which point they locate the vehicle on its side having been involved in a collision.
“The now accused requested assistance getting out of the vehicle.”
The witnesses helped Richardson from the vehicle and contacted police.
Ms Love said: “The accused was seen to be under the influence and struggling to form sentences and was unsteady on her feet.”
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Richardson was assessed and found to be uninjured.
She was arrested and taken to Kittybrewster police station where she told officers: “I only had half a bottle of Prosecco. I haven’t done anything wrong.”
Richardson, or Friarsfield Square, Cults, pled guilty to careless driving and driving with 86 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath.
The legal limit is 22 microgrammes.
Defence agent Gregor Kelly said: “She of course concedes she had indeed done something wrong and indeed it has cost her dear. It could have been far worse.”
Mr Kelly said his client’s mother had insisted Richardson pay the full cost of the incident in respect of the car, amounting to £8,000.
She had passed her test less than two months prior to the incident, which happened on April 24.
Mr Kelly said: “She was engaged in a Zoom computer meeting with friends. They were drinking, she went to the fridge and got a bottle of Prosecco.”
He said his client did not know why she had driven, adding: “She didn’t need to go anywhere. She didn’t need anything from the shop.
“She’s only driven about 500 metres. She didn’t get far at all.
“It’s lucky she escaped with her life.”
Sheriff Graham Buchanan told Richardson: “This was really incredibly stupid behaviour on your part as I’m sure you understand.
“There’s absolutely no reason for you to drive and all that’s happened now is you’ve got yourself into quite a bit of trouble.”
He ordered her to pay a fine totalling £710 and banned her from driving for 14 months.
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