Inverness woman warned she's on road to jail if she keeps driving while banned
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A disqualified driver who got behind the wheel of her car twice after being banned was warned by a sheriff she was on the road to jail.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard that 34-year-old Jennifer Strachan, of Ardness Place, Inverness had her licence first taken away from her in August 2022 for drink-driving.
But a month later, she was caught by police on September 9 driving while under the influence of drugs in Sir Walter Scott Drive and at her home.
Fiscal depute Grant McLennan told Sheriff Eilidh Macdonald that a subsequent police computer check revealed she should not have been driving.
A blood test proved positive for a cocaine metabolite.
She pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and with 376mcgs of the drug in her system when the safe limit is 50mcgs.
Mr McLennan then told the court that Strachan was caught by police again on October 12 driving along Holm Road.
She was stopped at Tesco's Dores Road store.
Strachan admitted driving while disqualified and without insurance and her Ford Focus was seized by police.
Defence solicitor Duncan Henderson said: "She accepts entirely she is the author of her own misfortune and understands the severity of this."
Sheriff Macdonald then interjected: "She is facing jail."
Mr Henderson went on: "She accepts it is entirely her own fault. Fortunately there was no-one else involved."
Sheriff Macdonald banned Strachan from driving for the next three years and ordered her to carry out 130 hours of unpaid community work as an alternative to prison.
She told her: "You are heading to jail if you carry on like this. It is very dangerous what you were doing and the court takes this very seriously."
