A COWDENBEATH woman was more than four times over the limit when she crashed her car into her neighbour’s wall.

Lorna Arnott, 52, admitted she had been drinking before the collision but claimed she also downed a litre of wine afterwards, before police arrived to breathalyse her.

Arnott, of Rowan Terrace, was on trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court as a result of the incident in her street on June 4.

She was found guilty of driving her car having consumed excess alcohol, with a reading of 212 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, the legal limit being 50 milligrammes.

Arnott did not dispute she was over the limit but pleaded not guilty to the original charge that her reading was 287 milligrammes.

Arnott told the court she had been drinking white wine at Wee Jimmy’s pub in Cowdenbeath during the afternoon of the offence.

She went home by bus and had been drinking more wine before driving at around 5.30pm to take her partner to a bowling match.

After reversing the car into her neighbour’s wall, Arnott went back into her house. She saw her neighbour coming out to check the wall and shouted: “I’m really sorry, I’ll pay for the damage.”

She said she then sat in her living room and “cried like a baby” because she was upset about what happened.

She claimed she knocked back about a litre of wine before police arrived at her door 45 minutes later.

“How many glasses of wine did you have?” asked depute fiscal Alistair McDermid.

“I honestly couldn’t tell you. I just keep topping up the glass when I’m drinking wine,” said Arnott.

The depute said it was “implausible” that she would have consumed so much wine in 45 minutes.

“I was upset. It’s not every day you knock your neighbour’s wall down,” said Arnott.

Sheriff Derek Livingston accepted there had been some post-incident drinking but found her guilty of driving with a reading of 212 milligrammes.

He imposed a 28-month driving ban and also fined Arnott £350.