A distressed teenager caught drink-driving on the Friarton Bridge was escaping a menacing encounter with a male friend, a court has heard.
The 17-year-old had spent the evening drinking with the man but was forced to flee when things took a sinister turn.
A court was told the teenager sent a coded message to her best friend to let her know she felt unsafe.
However, she decided to get away under her own steam and drove back to her home in Aberfeldy.
She was pulled over by police after a member of the public reported her erratic driving on the M90.
She ‘had to flee’ friend’s house
The teenager, who cannot be name for legal reasons, appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted driving along the motorway at the Friarton Bridge with an alcohol reading of 70 mics/100 ml of breath. The legal limit is 22 mics.
She was banned from the road for a year and fined £300.
Sheriff Mark O’Hanlon told her: “This was an unfortunate situation that you found yourself in.
“I can understand that you would have been in distress.”
Solicitor Linda Clark, defending, said: “She’s not a frequent drinker but on this day she had made arrangements to meet a male friend.
“She travelled down to his home and accompanied him on a shopping trip.
“There, they purchased some alcohol and then returned to his place of residence.”
Ms Clark said: “She drank some of the alcohol but then, she tells me, the atmosphere shifted.
“She felt that she had to flee the premises.”
Codeword
The solicitor told the court: “She has an arrangement with a best friend for situations like this and she texted her a secret codeword that meant: ‘Come help me.’
“Foolishly, she decided not to wait for her friend and she decided to drive home.”
The court heard her friend was able to find her using a tracking device in her car.
“All this does not excuse the fact that she drove while considerably over the limit,” said Ms Clark.
“This is her first time in court.
“She’s never been in trouble before.
“She understands she will be disqualified.
“She offers her apologies to the court for her conduct.”
