A single mum has been banned from the roads after being caught drunk behind the wheel in pyjamas and one flip-flop.
Police had discovered Laura Mulligan sat in tears inside her Ford Focus with a bloodied lip following a fight last October.
The 28-year-old claimed she had been punched by a friend who then threatened to attack her if she didn't move her car.
The pals had been on a night out in Bolton for Halloween before they went back for the night.
But Mulligan, who said she'd drunk two wines and four vodkas, claimed things turned sour and she was punched in the face during a row.
At Manchester Magistrates' Court, she begged to avoid a ban due to 'exceptional circumstances' but was instead disqualified for 17 months.
Mulligan, from Urmston, told the hearing: "It was Halloween we all had our Halloween outfits on and I had gone back to my friends place and had a really good time - I was staying over because it was quite a way home.
"But when I went back to my friends, she attacked me, I had a punch to the face in the living room and I sort of just blacked out.
"I tried to defend myself but there was one of her friends who joined in so I had two of them beating me up so everything was just all over the place.
"I was then told if I didn't leave her flat that she would get a knife and hurt me."
The mum-of-one said her car was parked in an allocated space but she was threatened: 'move your car or else I'm going to stab you.'
She added: "I had nowhere to go and I had no charge on my phone.
"It was 5:30am there was nothing around for me to run to for safety I had a busted lip I was in agony covered in blood and I didn't know what to do.
'I came outside and I thought: 'what do I do.'
"I knew that if I pulled onto the road it would look like I had gone and be at safety and I thought if I put my phone on charge I could ring the police or my mum or my dad for help.
"It was a stupid thing I had no intention whatsoever to drive my car the only thing that went through my head was: 'if I don't get this car and move it away from the window anything could happen'."
She said when she left the apartment she only had one flip flop on and her pyjamas and I didn't have her glasses for driving.
She added: "I have got a little boy who is six and I just thought of him. If the car was still outside the apartment, they might have come outside.
"I didn't see any other thing I could have possibly done. I understand how stupid it was to get in that vehicle with getting drunk - I was having a panic attack because I had just been beaten up by one of my best friends.
"I have never been in a police cell before - I never even gone through a red light. Seeing the police was quite a relief as I thought I am safe.
"It was hard to explain what I was doing in my car because I was having a panic attack.
"All that was going through my head was my little boy, I'm a single mum on my own - they wouldn't even let me charge my phone to ring my mum.
"They knew I would have to go outside to charge it up."
Bodycam footage of Mulligan's arrest showed her being asked to take a breathalyser whilst she was in tears as distressed.
But Laura Keegan prosecuting said: "The case law states that shortness of distance cannot amount to a special reason - you have to look at all the factors."
Tests showed Mulligan had 89 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.
Magistrates told her: "With everything considered and evaluated we believe you did drive the vehicle further than you needed to - we feel you could have taken other action.
"You could have approached one of the neighbours in the vicinity.
"The amount of alcohol you consumed that night you put yourself at risk and others at risk."
Mulligan was also fined £350 plus £230 costs.
As sentence was passed she said: "I'm going to lose my job, I'm going to lose my house,
"I'm going to lose everything. I'm a single mother on my own I can't afford anything else I'm struggling I'm in debt."
