Woman from Saddlebow, King’s Lynn, got in car after drinking to capture escaped dog

A 63-year-old who had driven 0.3 miles down the road to attempt to capture her escaped dog ended up in court for drink driving.

Linda Wright, of High Road in Saddlebow, pleaded guilty to the offence at Lynn’s Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

Prosecutor Qamar Iqbal explained that on the evening of July 19, Wright and her husband were having a few drinks at home and decided to let their cairn terrier out.

However, the dog began to run down the road.

Wright decided to drive down the road while her husband ran after the dog.

Her car then got stuck in part of a ditch and a nearby resident called the police. She gave a breathalyser reading of 71mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath, the legal limit to drive is 35mcg.

In mitigation, George Sorrell described Wright, who has no previous convictions, as a “respectable lady”.

He explained that Wright is a carer for her 94-year-old father and would struggle without a car, as she would be disqualified from driving.

In relation to the dog getting out, Mr Sorrell said: “She was in a state of panic, anyone owning a beloved pet would feel that panic.

“Her husband came out running down the road, she got into the car to follow him and only went about 0.3 miles down the road.

“The dog did turn around and go back to her husband. The car got caught at the edge of the road where the dike was.”

The solicitor added: “You will understand her panic at the time. She is primarily worried about her father now.”

Magistrates disqualified Wright from driving for 18 months and she was fined £100 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £40.

Speaking on behalf of magistrates, John Hare said: “You just have to blame the dog.

“It’s just unfortunate, but nothing we can do unfortunately.”