A drink-driver who drove six miles with a damaged tyre has been fined £1,500 and banned from driving for 18 months.

Caroline Victoria Shannon was also ordered to take an extended driving test at the end of her ban.

Prosecuting advocate Hazel Carroon told the court that a witness saw Shannon driving a Mazda on King Edward Road in Onchan, on September 3, at 7.40pm.

They said that the front wheel of her car was devoid of tred, so much so that sparks were coming from the rim of the wheel.

The witness followed Shannon along Douglas promenade, then saw her park the car opposite Regent Street and leave the vehicle.

The civilian called the police and they found the car unlocked.

The car’s tyre had disintegrated to the point that it was on its rim.

Officers found Shannon, who is 27, at the Front Porch bar in Duke Street.

She failed a breathalyser test and was subsequently arrested.

At police headquarters, a further test produced a reading of 50.

The legal limit is 35, but a blood test can be requested by the defendant if a reading is 50 or below.

Shannon requested a blood test and this was sent for analysis, which later produced a reading of 89.  The legal limit in blood is 80.

During a police interview, the defendant answered ‘no comment’ to all questions, but admitted she had driven.

The road surface was damaged where Shannon had driven and the carcass of the tyre was found in Baldrine.

Her route was traced and showed that she had driven around six miles.

The court heard that the defendant had no previous convictions.

Defence advocate Stephen Wood handed in a letter from Shannon to the court, and said that this detailed significant personal difficulties that his client had been experiencing around the time of the offence, which he would not go into in open court.

Mr Wood said that, while it was clear the distance driven was an aggravating factor, the reading had been relatively low.

‘We would ask the court to consider this a one-off incident which occurred at a very difficult time in my client’s life,’ said the advocate.

Mr Wood said that Shannon worked with special needs children and the loss of her licence was going to have a significant impact on her work.

The advocate asked for credit to be given for the guilty plea and the defendant’s admission to police that she had been the driver.

Acting Deputy High Bailiff Jayne Hughes told Shannon that she had taken into account her difficulties, but added that this still did not explain why she had driven.

The Deputy High Bailiff said that the minimum disqualification period for the reading was 12 months, but bearing in mind the aggravating features, she was increasing the ban to 18 months.

Shannon, who lives at Douglas Head in Douglas, was also ordered to pay £50 prosecution costs, which she will pay, along with the fine, at a rate of £100 per month.