An alcoholic who drank from a bottle of whisky as she drove down one of Scotland’s most dangerous roads has been banned for five years.
Margaret Kerr consumed so much of the spirit between Dalwhinnie and Killiecrankie – a distance of little more than 25 miles – that she was more than five times the limit when arrested.
She claimed she had been attempting to dull the pain of a sore knee and had turned to alcohol because taking strong painkillers would have made her feel drowsy.
Motorists made a flurry of phone calls to the police after Kerr eventually stopped her Skoda Octavia on the southbound carriageway of the A9, forcing a number of drivers to swerve to avoid a crash.
The 68-year-old was do drunk she believed she had pulled into a layby and even questioned what she had done wrong when challenged by police officers.
They had found her stationary on the southbound carriageway at the Pass of Killiecrankie, still behind the wheel and with her engine running.
Perth Sheriff Court heard she had been returning home to Edinburgh following a stay at the holiday cottage she shares with her partner.
Officers had to help Kerr from her vehicle so she could carry out a roadside breath test and promptly conveyed her to police headquarters in Perth after she failed that test.
More than an hour-and-a-half after her last drink she gave a reading of 117 mics – vastly more than the 22 microgram limit.
She told officers at the time: “I was under duress because of the pain in my left knee.”
Solicitor David Holmes said: “She had set out on her journey but had not taken painkillers because they made her feel drowsy.
“Mrs Kerr had an operation on her knee in November 2016 and was in significant pain as she awaited further knee replacement surgery.
“She had not taken any alcohol before beginning to drive but had reached Dalwhinnie when she started to drink whisky to quell the excruciating pain.”
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis expressed astonishment that she could have consumed so much in such a short space of time saying: “She reached a very high reading, very quickly”.
The solicitor explained his client had “stopped to drink” along the way before driving on.
He added: “She recognises that she has a problem with alcohol and has sought help. Since this incident she has been attended AA meetings.
“She is extremely sorry for what happened.”
Kerr, of Belford Road in Edinburgh, admitted driving with excess alcohol on the A9 on September 3 this year.
The court heard she had a previous conviction for drink driving and a separate conviction for being drunk in charge of a motor vehicle.
Sheriff Foulis said those previous convictions were “of considerable importance” as he banned Kerr from the road for five years and fined her £4,000 to “reflect the seriousness” of her offence.
He also told her she would have to re-sit the extended driving test, saying: “From a road safety point of view your capability to drive will require to be tested.”
