A mother and daughter have been banned from the road after they were both caught drunk at the wheel of the same car in 24 hours.
Rona McKerchar (52) and her daughter Tracey Rennie (26) both spent a weekend in custody after they were caught with alcohol readings totalling almost seven times the legal limit.
McKerchar’s Peugeot 406 was seized by the Crown and now faces being confiscated after the duo were convicted of drinking and driving in the same street.
Learner driver Rennie took the keys to her mother’s car after being dared by her friends to demonstrate what she had learned during her first lessons. But she almost immediately lost control of the vehicle and reversed it into a ditch in the early hours of the morning after a late-night drinking session with pals.
Perth Sheriff Court was told police received a call at 6am to say a car had been abandoned in the ditch at Drummond Grove in the Perthshire hamlet of Woodside. They were given information about who had been driving and traced Rennie at home, where she failed a breath test and was arrested.
Solicitor John McLaughlin, defending, said Rennie had been drinking with friends when she began to talk to them about having a provisional driving licence.
One of her friends said ‘let’s see if you can drive’ so Rennie took out her mother’s car and promptly crashed into the ditch after just a few yards.
Rennie, Burrell Place, Woodside, admitted drink-driving at her home address and Drummond Grove on June 1. She was more than three times the legal limit (106/35mics).
She also admitted driving without a qualified driver or insurance.
She was taken into custody and the car was recovered from the ditch and returned to its owner, McKerchar.
Within a few hours, however, she was arrested as well.
McKerchar, Viewfield Place, Burrelton, admitted drink-driving on the A94 Perth to Coupar Angus road and in Burrell Place on June 2.
Her reading was almost four times the limit (130/35 mics).
The court was told that an off-duty police officer had spotted McKerchar driving erratically outside her daughter’s home.
Depute fiscal Robbie Brown told the court that when police caught up with McKerchar she was smelling of alcohol and her speech was slurred.
The Crown’s motion to seize the car was granted by the sheriff and consideration of confiscation will take place when the duo are finally sentenced next month.
Both were disqualified on an interim basis and sentence was deferred to allow for the preparation of Criminal Justice Social Work reports.
McKerchar was previously banned for 18 months in 2002 for drink-driving.