A 22-year-old woman has been fined £500 for being drunk and disorderly after a row with a taxi driver.

Charlotte Louise Roney refused to pay a fare and swore at the cabbie, complaining that he had not taken her to McDonald’s.

After pleading guilty to the offence, she was also banned from buying or being sold alcohol for two months by High Bailiff Jayne Hughes.

Prosecuting advocate Hazel Carroon told the court that police were on patrol on Peel Road in Douglas on May 15.

At 12.35am officers were at Ellan Vannin Fuels when they heard shouting on the forecourt.

They saw Roney shouting at a taxi driver and refusing to pay the fare, due to a dispute about where she was being dropped off. She was said to be slurring her words, smelling of alcohol, and unsteady on her feet.

Roney was shouting and swearing, saying: ‘I’m not paying. You didn’t take me to Maccies and I haven’t eaten.’

She eventually agreed to pay the fare but then started swearing at a member of the public and was subsequently arrested.

Once at police headquarters, she was described as being obstructive and rude.

However, the next day Roney, who lives at Hillside Avenue in Douglas, apologised, saying: ‘I’m sorry for swearing.’

The court heard that she is currently subject to a suspended sentence, imposed at the Court of General Gaol Delivery in March, for assault causing actual bodily harm.

And just a week after that she was fined £600 by magistrates for being drunk and disorderly.

Defence advocate Stephen Wood said that the latest offence was not one which could trigger the suspended sentence as it was non-imprisonable.

Mr Wood said that Roney had been engaging well with probation as part of the supervision element of her sentence.

‘We are dealing with a young lady with significant difficulties and adversities in her life,’ said the advocate.

Mr Wood said that the latest offence had occurred during a week in which Roney had lost her job, but she had since found new employment.

Regarding the member of the public on the forecourt she was said to have sworn at, Mr Wood said that this had been a friend of Roney.

‘Eventually the taxi was paid for but she spent a night in the cells,’ said the advocate.

Mr Wood asked that Roney be spared a ban on entering licensed premises as she worked in a restaurant.

The court heard that she is already paying fines until April 2023.

High Bailiff Mrs Hughes also ordered her to pay £125 prosecution costs, which she will pay, along with the latest £500 fine, at a rate of £150 per month, to start at the end of her previous fines.