A COLDSTREAM woman who drove while more than four times the legal alcohol limit has been banned from the road for 14 months at Jedburgh Sheriff Court.

Forty-three-year-old Donna McHugh pleaded guilty to driving with a urine/alcohol count of 319 microgrammes – the legal limit being 67 – on the A6122 road near Lennel, Coldstream, on the evening of  March 31.

Depute fiscal Drew Long said the police received a call around 10.40pm about a vehicle being off the road.

Officers arrived at the scene and found the car 15 metres from the road with the driver still inside the vehicle.

He continued: “They felt she had been drinking by her manner. She told them she had consumed two bottles of wine earlier that day.  

“She accepted she was the driver.”

Defence lawyer Ed Hulme said McHugh had a clean licence but had been in a low mood and had stopped taking her medication.

He continued: “She had consumed alcohol and decided to drive to her sister’s home six miles away. 

“She lost control of the car and came off the road. She was co-operative with the police.”

Sheriff Peter Paterson said he would have disqualified her from driving for 21 months but reduced the period to 14 months due to the guilty plea.

McHugh was also fined £400 with a £20 victim surcharge.