A DUMBARTON mum-of-three who drove off for a late night food shop while almost four-and-a-half times the alcohol limit told social workers she felt she was “unlucky” to have been caught.

Eilidh McKinnon was banned for 18 months as a result of a decision which a sheriff labelled “outrageous”.

McKinnon admitted drink-driving in Cardross Road and Castlehill Road after she provided a sample with a reading of 98 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath on being stopped by police on December 9.

The legal limit is 22 microgrammes.

At a previous court hearing, 25-year-old McKinnon's solicitor said her client had made the “ridiculous” decision to go out for food after finishing work at 9pm, going home and drinking.

That hearing was told McKinnon had lost her job as a support worker as a result of losing her licence, and the incident had put “a huge amount of stress” on her marriage and left her unable to look for alternative employment.

Sentence was deferred until Thursday to allow social workers to prepare a report on McKinnon – and at that hearing, her agent, Judith Reid, told Dumbarton Sheriff Court her client was now on benefits and her husband was paying her mortgage.

Referring to the social worker's conclusions, Ms Reid said: “She does feel she was unlucky to be stopped by police. But when I last saw her she appeared extremely contrite about the situation.”

Sheriff William Gallacher, pointing to a section in the report which stated McKinnon would have difficulty carrying out unpaid community work as a punishment, said: “She says she can't work, so the solution is driven inevitably towards a custodial sentence - and I don't balk at it.

“I regard this as a very serious matter indeed.”

Ms Reid said prison “should not be considered”, and pointed out that McKinnon, of Castlehill Road, had no previous convictions, had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, and was the mother of three small children.

Ms Reid added: “She has an extremely good work record. She would require to pay for childcare to allow her to attend her unpaid hours.

“She is a full-time carer for these children. It would therefore be almost impossible for her to carry out unpaid hours of work.”

Sheriff Gallacher said McKinnon was, in his view, “not remotely capable of paying a financial penalty”, and instead placed her under the supervision of social workers for the next 18 months.

The sheriff told her: “Your decision to get behind the wheel was outrageous.

“You thought you were unlucky. The luck was you didn't kill someone. You were in no position to control that vehicle.

“Do not delude yourself that I haven't given very serious consideration to sending you to prison. On balance I have decided I can avoid that – only just.”