A GREENOCK woman charged with driving a car whilst seven-times the booze limit looked ‘vacant’ after hitting her neighbour’s vehicle, a trial has been told.
Dawn Brooke — whose Renault Scenic was nowhere to be seen when she went to her neighbour’s door — denies an allegation of drunk driving.
The sheriff court heard how Brooke, 50, had a reading of 152mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath but she denies being intoxicated behind the wheel.
She went to bed with a bottle of gin before police — who had been alerted by her neighbour — arrived at her home on Glamis Drive, the trial was told.
The neighbour, 53, said her Audi A1 car had been ‘excessively’ damaged when she inspected it with Brooke on March 23 last year.
She told the court: “The door went and Dawn Brooke said she’d smashed my car.
“She was quite vague, slow with her speech — she looked vacant.
“I thought there would be just a small amount [of damage] but when I looked it was quite excessive. She said she’d pay but clearly we were looking at an insurance claim because there was quite a lot of damage.”
The witness added: “She was totally different to what a normal conversation would be. She had a vape in her hand and there was smoke between us.
“I asked her for insurance details and I then went into my house and phoned the police because I suspected Ms Brooke was under the influence.
“She went in the direction of shops, and not in a straight line. She was swaying.”
Brooke’s son, 25, told the court that his mother ‘seemed out of it’ and ‘not herself’ on the day of the incident.
He added: “My mother went to bed. I let the police in, and I had to shout her.
“I believe she’d had a drink at this stage.
“She was similar to before, but worse, I would say.”
Mum-of-two Brooke has pleaded not guilty to the charge through lawyer Aidan Gallagher.
The trial has been adjourned part-heard until February 8.
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