A WOMAN has been fined for drink-driving and having no licence after fiddling with the controls in a friend’s car caused her to accidentally reverse into another vehicle.

Jacqueline Murphy did not intend to drive the car, but was sitting in the driver’s seat trying out the gears when the accident happened.

Murphy, of Irvine’s Barra Crescent, appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last week and pleaded guilty to being over the drink-drive limit, driving without a licence and driving without insurance.

The court heard that at around 2.20am on April 29, Murphy was in her home with a friend drinking alcohol. The pair left the house and went to the friend’s car, which was parked outside.  Murphy, 29, sat in the driver’s seat and familiarised herself with the controls while her friend stood beside the car.  She started the engine and on doing so reversed backwards at speed and struck a parked vehicle behind.  Witnesses contacted the police, who arrived at around 2.40am.

Murphy told officers at the time: “I sat in the driver’s seat”. She also admitted that she was under the influence of alcohol.  She gave a specimen of breath and was found to have 97 micrograms of alcohol for every 100 millilitres of breath – four times the legal limit.

Defending Murphy, solicitor Simon Brown said: “My understanding is there was never any intention to drive the vehicle. She accepts she was in the car and she was the driver. Her friend had a new car and was showing her the new car.  “I think we accept it was accidental.”

Sheriff Shirley Foran said that while Murphy had “a very high reading”, she was “prepared to accept that there are unusual circumstances” .

The sheriff fined Murphy £600 and disqualified her from holding a licence for two years for being in control of a vehicle while over the drink-drive limit. She also fined her £140 for driving without insurance.

She was admonished for driving without a licence.