Nurse was almost three times over drink-drive limit

Peel woman banned from driving for five years

A court’s heard workplace bullying made a nurse at Noble’s Hospital turn to alcohol before she was caught drink-driving.

Forty-nine-year-old Beth Houston-McMillan of Ballellis in Peel appeared before magistrates at Douglas courthouse.

She’d previously admitted the offence on Poortown Road in Peel on 12 May.

The court heard she’d drunk a third of a bottle of vodka before getting behind the wheel to drive to Ronaldsway Airport.

Prosecution advocate Barry Swain said Houston-McMillan clipped a kerb in her Hyundai, losing control of the vehicle and hitting a hedge.

When police arrived, she told them she hadn’t been drinking – but couldn’t complete a roadside breathalyser test despite four attempts.

A blood sample taken at the hospital showed she was almost three times over the drink drive limit.

Magistrates imposed a combination order of one year’s probation, and 120 hours of community service.

She was also banned from the roads for five years and ordered to pay £50 costs.