An estate agent was praised by a sheriff for reporting herself for drinking and driving - and then fined £1000.
Lauren Monaghan, 20, phoned the police to report she'd had an accident while driving home intoxicated at 1.40am.
Her 2019 Vauxhall Adam Griffin came to a stop against a roadside tree.
Falkirk Sheriff Court heard that the accident occurred on November 27th (2021), three doors away from her own home.
She got out of the car and phoned the police to say she had stopped against the tree after having collided with a parked vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
Officers arrived and she gave a sample of breath that proved on analysis to contain 99 microgrammes of alcohol in every 100 millilitres -- four and half times the legal limit, which is 22.
Monaghan, who lives with her parents in Aitken Crescent, Redding, Falkirk, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol.
Solicitor Simon Hutchison, defending, said: "It's clear this was a really stupid one-off on her part. She's very, very upset and annoyed at her behaviour and she shows a great deal of remorse.
"It is her first offence, there's nothing else outstanding, and I'm pretty sure we'll never see her again in the criminal court.
"She has just signed a contract to become self-employed in a local estate agency business.
"Her work will be commission-based, selling houses.
"She accepts that her main difficulty will be that now she won't have a licence, she'll have to spend a great deal of money on taxis and things.
"That will impact on the profits she makes."
Imposing the £1000 fine and disqualifying her from driving for 16 months, Sheriff Christopher Shead told Monaghan he'd had a "very detailed, very helpful" criminal justice social work report on her.
He said: "The court's very sorry to see you appearing in these circumstances.
"As you recognise yourself, it's a serious offence.
"Mr Hutchison is no doubt correct to submit that the court's unlikely to see you offending in the future.
"There won't be many people who've gone to the trouble of reporting themselves to the police in these circumstances.
"That is a very significant feature of this case. It reflects well on you, if I may respectfully say so."
