Thirty-year-old Amy Fairclough, of The Clicketts, appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday, to plead guilty to a charge of driving her BMW in Tenby whilst exceeding the alcohol limit.
Prosecutor Ellie Morgan told the court that around 9.30 pm, on Saturday, June 18, a taxi driver standing outside his vehicle in Tudor Square, witnessed a BMW pull into the taxi rank area to drop off a passenger.
“The female driver tried to manoeuvre back out of the space, but hit a parked taxi’s bumper.
“The taxi driver tried to speak to the female driver, but she drove off without stopping,” explained Ms Morgan.
The person that Ms Fairclough dropped off was then spoken to by police on patrol in the area and provided officers with her name.
Police attended Ms Fairclough’s home and the BMW vehicle was parked on the driveway with the bonnet still warm.
“At 9.38 pm, Ms Fairclough answered the door in partial undress and officers could smell alcohol on her breath,” continued MS Morgan.
“She denied any involvement in the incident and stated that the marks on her BMW were old.
“A breath test proved positive and Ms Fairclough said that she’d drunk four cans of Fosters since she came home, which would have been within eight minutes!” she continued.
After being arrested, Ms Fairclough gave a more candid interview at the police station, in which she told officers that she’d ‘panicked’ at the scene as she knew that she’d been drinking and would be over the limit and drove off. She explained that she’d gone to Tesco to pick up some food.
The reading she gave at the police station was 68 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.
Ms Morgan told magistrates that the defendant had served a community order for a dangerous driving offence last year.
Defence solicitor Matthew Greenish told the court that his client had made a ‘foolish decision’ to drive into town.
“She is a single mother, currently out of work, but due to start a full-time adult nursing degree in September in Carmarthen, so this will impact on her getting to university,” he explained.
“Ms Fairclough has shown a couple of moments of stupidity, and wants to try and put this behind her,” added Mr. Greenish.
Magistrates disqualified the defendant from driving for 18 months and fined her £120 for the offence.
She was also ordered to pay costs of £85 and a £30 victim surcharge.