A BELLSMYRE woman who drove a car while more than six times the legal drink drive limit has been placed on a community payback order.

Heather Stephenson, who lives at Whiteford Avenue in Dumbarton, appeared in the dock at the town's sheriff court for sentencing from custody.

The 40-year-old, who has a previous conviction for drink driving, had been spotted driving a Peugeot 107 in Merkins Avenue in Bellsmyre on August 1 last year.

Procurator fiscal depute Scott Simpson told Dumbarton Sheriff Court that the incident happened at 11.20am. Police officers caught up with Stephenson at her home address, the car was by that time parked outside her home and when breath tested the sample she provided gave a reading of 142 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath, the legal limit is just 22microgrammes.

Stephenson's solicitor, Peter Young, told the court: "She accepts that this is a grave matter, because of this she has lost her job. She has spent some time in custody and doesn't want to go back to Cornton Vale. The position is that I have discussed with her the possibility of a community payback order and what that involves.

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry said: "I think it's obvious to you Mr Young that she put everyone in the community at risk."

Sentence had been deferred and Stephenson had been remanded in custody back on January 12 after the court was told that she had failed to appear for two scheduled appointments with social work representatives tasked with producing a social enquiry report.

Sheriff Hendry asked the solicitor if there was an explanation for Stephenson not complying with the court.

In mitigation, Mr Young replied: "At the time she was working long hours in a call centre and had called them to change her appointment. She then got confused with what day it was on and turned up on the wrong day."

The Crown had motioned for forfeiture of the Peugeot car, which was valued at between £2,500 and £3,000 by the defence. But the court heard that although the car was registered in Stephenson's name it was actually her mother who was making the monthly purchase payments on the car and they still had more than two years to run. Stephenson indicated that the car would be signed over to her mother and then sold and the money brought in used to pay off the outstanding balance remaining on the vehicle to prevent hardship to her mother.

Sheriff Hendry said: "This is a serious matter, made all the more serious by the fact that you have a previous conviction. I predict that if there is a third conviction of this type then prison would be almost inevitable. I had to think about sending you to prison – this is a massive reading and you should not have been anywhere near a car. I am just convinced that there is an alternative to prison. I take account that you spent time in prison."

The sheriff imposed the community payback order with the conditions that Stephenson be supervised for the next two years and ordered her to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work in the community within nine months. She was also banned from holding or obtaining a driving licence for a period of four years but offered the opportunity to take part in a drink-drive rehabilitation scheme that if completed would earn her 12 months reduction on the driving ban.

The Crown motion for forfeiture was no longer sought.