A woman caught drunk driving has claimed she was attempting to escape a mystery man who approached her car while she was eating a McDonald’s Big Mac.
Helena Monk, 27, was parked on a side road eating the burger after going for dinner with a friend.
She says she panicked when she saw the man walk towards her pink Fiat 500 car and drove onto a country road to get away from him.
Police stopped her when they spotted her swerving around the carriageway with an internal light still switched on, Manchester Evening News reports.
Stockport Magistrates Court heard how tests showed she was almost double the legal drink-drive limit.
Monk, who lives in Hale, admitted drink driving and was banned from the roads for 18 months.
She has initially applied for a "special reasons" hearing in which drink drivers cite "exceptional hardship" in an attempt to dodge a driving ban.
The incident happened on July 15 last year at 11.10pm around 10 miles from Monk's flat, when police spotted her driving through the village of Mottram St Andrew near Alderley Edge.
It was claimed Monk, who works as a textile designer and a recruitment agent, had been out for a meal and had dropped off her friend - but stopped at McDonald's on her way home.
She then pulled over at a nearby pub to eat it before setting off again.
Prosecutor Peter Conroy said: "A police constable on patrol described the defendant as swerving from side to side in the road.
"There was an internal light on in the car.
"The officer conducted checks on her number plate and used his emergency equipment to stop her.
''The defendant pulled over and he could smell alcohol on her breath and could tell she was intoxicated.
"She then failed a roadside breath test and was arrested being taken to Middlewich custody suite.
"She was compliant with police throughout. There were no other passengers in the car and conditions were good, it was late at night."
In mitigation defence lawyer James Street, who specialises in ''exceptional hardship'' cases, said: "My client was someone of previous good character and she has now lost that.
"She accepts she will now be disqualified and it will have a significant impact on her in terms of circumstances.
''She had been out for a meal and a drink and then dropped her friend off at their home, where she has had another drink.
"It is probably that drink which has put her over the legal limit.
"She was hungry later on and drove to McDonald’s to get a burger.
"She then started to drive off and realised it may be difficult to eat a burger whilst driving.
''She parked down the side lane of the pub and noticed someone approaching behind her.
"She was a single woman in a car and was concerned.
"She felt threatened because a male was behind her, so she took the decision to drive off onto the main road and that is when the police saw her and she pulled into a side road and co-operated."
Mr Street told the court his client normally works as a recruitment agent but due to lockdown, is currently not in work.
He added: "She is going to be much more limited in her ability now to find work after losing her license because of this."
Monk was also ordered to pay a fine of £120 and ordered to pay £180 costs plus a £34 victim surcharge.
