A drink-drive suspect has failed to persuade a sheriff she attacked an 80-year-old woman and clashed with police because she was suffering from low blood sugar levels.
Diabetic Jill Fyffe claimed she was having a hypoglycaemic attack when she was spotted in a parked vehicle punching elderly passenger Rosemary Thomson as she screamed in pain.
Two passing dog-walkers rushed to the woman’s aid, grabbed Fyffe’s keys and locked her in the car until police arrived.
Fyffe, 45, denied charges that she assaulted Ms Thomson – who was in her care at the time – failed to cooperate with breath tests and kicked a police officer on an unclassified road near Wellwood, Longforgan on April 22 2020.
She was found guilty following a three-day trial at Perth Sheriff Court.
No proof of hypo attack
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis told her: “I am quite satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that on this date you assaulted Ms Thomson, you failed to provide roadside breath test and you assaulted PC Nathan Shields.
“I do not accept that this was all the cause of a hypoglycaemic attack.
“There is no evidence to support that.”
The sheriff deferred sentence for background reports, but declined a crown motion to seize Fyffe’s silver Audi A4.
‘Screaming’ in pain
Mechanical engineer Lewis Miller, 31, told the trial he was out walking his dog with partner Jessica when he heard “screaming” from a stationary vehicle.
“It sounded like someone in pain,” he said.
“There was an elderly lady in the passenger seat.
“The driver seemed to be hitting her, causing her pain.
“I remember seeing her squeezing her thigh and the elderly lady was trying to push her off.
“She was trying to get out of the car, but couldn’t. She seemed a bit frail.”
Mr Miller said his girlfriend then helped get Ms Thomson get out.
“I took the keys out of the ignition, closed the door and kept her (Fyffe) inside until the police arrived.”
Smell of alcohol
PC Jillian Robertson, 33, said she arrived at the car and met Mr Miller, his girlfriend and Ms Thomson.
She said Fyffe “appeared to be intoxicated. She smelled of alcohol.”
The officer added: “She said there was a medical reason, but she was slurring her words.”
When told she was under arrest, Fyffe told PC Robertson: “No, I’m not getting out.”
She shouted and swore as she was led out of the vehicle.
As she was placed in handcuffs, she kicked out at PC Robertson’s colleague Nathan Shields.
The court heard a bottle of rum was found in the car’s glovebox.
Gummy bears
Fyffe told he trial that she took medication for type one diabetes.
Asked why police detected a smell of alcohol from her, she said: “It could have been because of my blood sugar levels.
“There can be a sweet smell of alcohol on someone’s breath when their ketones are high.”
She said she would drink coke and eat sweets like gummy bears to raise her blood sugar levels.
When she took too much or “over-compensated” she could become agitated and forgetful, she said.
Fyffe, of Primrose Place, Perth, said the bottle found in her car’s glove box did not belong to her.
Leading pathologist Professor Anthony Busuttil gave evidence for the defence, but confirmed there was no evidence from Fyffe’s medical records to confirm she had suffered a hypo attack.
Asked by solicitor David Holmes about the symptoms of such an attack, Prof Busuttil said she could have slurred speech.
But he said there would not be a smell of alcohol.
High ketones, he said, might give off a “sweet, but non-alcohol” smell.
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