A mum has admitted doing the school run while she was four and a half times the legal drink drive limit.
Debbie Lightfoot was seen “swaying” and “unsteady on her feet” after she arrived by car at a school in West Lothian.
Although it was just after 3 o’clock in the afternoon she was slurring her words and her breath smelled of alcohol.
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Believing that she was under the influence a concerned individual phoned the social work department who advised that her child should be placed in care and police should be contacted.
Chris Yule, prosecuting, told Livingston Sheriff Court that police arrived at 3.54pm and saw the accused a short distance from the school entrance.
He said: “On speaking to the accused officers noticed that she became upset and irate, stating that she hadn’t driven the vehicle.
“They observed the accused to be slurring her words and smelling of alcohol.
“The accused was then arrested and taken to Livingston Police custody where she provided two specimens of breath for analysis for which the lower count was 102 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.”
Mr Yule said CCTV footage obtained from a Ring doorbell camera near Lightfoot’s home showed the accused driving the vehicle at around 2.58pm.
He announced the Crown’s intention to seek forfeiture of the accused’s black Nissan Qashqai – which has a private plate spelling her first name “Deb” – mainly as a result of the high alcohol reading.
The 2018 SUV, which the Crown has the power to seize under Section 33A of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, is understood to be worth more than £15,000.
Lightfoot, 44, from Armadale, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to driving while over the 22 microgramme limit on 30 August last year.
Her not guilty plea to failing to give police constable Graeme Comrie information as to the identity of the driver at the time of the offence was accepted by the prosecution.
Sheriff Martin Edington banned her from driving with immediate effect and deferred consideration of confiscation and the length of the disqualification to a sentencing hearing on 25 May.
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