A drink-driver who had to be cut out of her crashed car has been fined £1,200 and given a two year driving ban.

Forty-year-old Jennifer Alison Stewart claimed she had drunk a glass of wine before the accident, which happened at Crossag Road in Ballasalla.

She appeared in court on Tuesday, November 12, and was also ordered to take an extended driving test at the end of her ban, and to pay £50 prosecution costs.

Prosecuting advocate Barry Swain told the court that Stewart was driving a Nissan Note on Crossag Road, heading towards St Mark’s on May 23, at 1.15pm.

She first hit a verge, then a bin, then a stone wall at the entrance to Glenwood.

The car then hit a hedge on the opposite side of the road.

Emergency services were called and Stewart had to be cut out of the vehicle by the fire service.

She was unable to provide a sample of breath at the roadside, despite 15 attempts, and was taken to Noble’s Hospital, suffering from whiplash.

A sample of blood was taken at 4.54pm, which later produced a reading of 67, below the legal limit of 80.

However, an expert’s back calculation found that, at the time of driving, the reading would have been not less than 122.

Defence advocate Kaitlyn Shimmin handed in letters of reference for her client, who lives at Ballakilley Road in Port St Mary.

The advocate said that Stewart had been unable to provide a sample of breath at the scene, despite the 15 attempts, because she was strapped on a spinal board at the time, rather than her being unco-operative.

Ms Shimmin asked for credit to be given for the immediate guilty plea and said that the defendant could pay the fine and costs within seven days.

The court heard that she had no previous convictions, and Ms Shimmin said that Stewart had already signed up for the drink-driving rehabilitation course.

Deputy High Bailiff Rachael Braidwood told the defendant: ‘Matters could have been a great deal worse for you.’