Hairdresser admitted drink driving after hitting neighbour's car following night out at South Shields pub

The case was heard at South Tyneside Magistrates' Court.

Alyson Elliott-Pryor, 39, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol when she appeared before South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court.

The defendant, who lives in Roman Road, South Shields, was arrested in the early hours of Saturday, November 23, after hitting a neighbour’s car with her Citroen.

However, her solicitor, Joanne Gatens, said her client had no recollection of getting in the car and it was a nurse who first suggested her drink may have been spiked.

Glenda Beck, prosecuting, said a neighbour of Elliott-Pryor was woken at 4.30am by someone telling him his car had been hit by the defendant.

Police were called and tests showed Elliott-Pryor had 77 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath with the limit being 35.

She said: “She said she had been out the previous evening and had been drinking.

“She went to The Mechanics pub with her friend, but couldn’t remember getting home.”

Ms Gatens, defending, said her client had gone out for the evening with a friend, which they regularly do, but started to not feel like herself.

She said: “Her friend became concerned about the state she appeared to be in which was unusual and not what she would expect from what they had drunk.”

Ms Gatens said her friend took her home on the evening and had to help her into the house.

When the police arrived following the accident Elliott-Pryor had no idea what she was doing in the car.

The court heard the following day her was so concerned about how ill her daughter was she took her to seek medical advice and it was a nurse who suggested her drink might have been spiked and it took Elliott-Pryor almost a week to recover from the night out.

Ms Gatens said her client is a self-employed hairdresser who cares for her 12-year-old autistic son and she is totally against drink-driving and normally wouldn’t have even driven the following day.

Elliott-Pryor was banned from driving for 20 months and fined £231. She was ordered to pay costs of £85, compensation of £250 and a surcharge of £32.