A drink-driver who crashed while nearly three times the legal limit, then abandoned her car, has been fined £3,300.

Twenty-eight-year-old Lauren Ann Cain of Tramman Close, Douglas, has also been banned from the roads for five years.

Magistrates also ordered her to take an extended driving test at the end of her ban and to complete a drink-driving rehabilitation course.

Prosecuting advocate Sara-Jayne Dodge told the court that, on September 15 at 12.30am, police were called to an abandoned black Peugeot 106, which had been left at Cooil Road in Braddan.

Officers attending the scene found that the vehicle had crashed into a Department of Infrastructure road sign at the roundabout at Spring Valley Industrial Estate.

They found Cain walking back towards the vehicle, and described her as smelling of alcohol and unsteady on her feet.

She initially claimed that she had broken down a couple of hours ago, but when asked if she had crashed, she admitted it and said: ‘My mum is going to kill me.’

After being taken to police headquarters, the defendant failed a breathalyser test with a reading of 102, above the legal limit of 35.

The court heard that she had no previous convictions.

Defence advocate Emily Brennan said that her client, who lives at Tramman Close in Douglas, had been on a night out with friends at the Horse and Plough pub.

She said that her friends had left and she had then made the reckless decision to drive home.

Ms Brennan said that it had been a four minute drive and that Cain had made a spur of the moment silly decision.

She said that Cain wanted to apologise to the DOI and the court.

Magistrates fined the defendant £2,500 for drink-driving and £800 for failing to stop after an accident, plus £125 prosecution costs.