AN air hostess who was arrested for drink driving had just fled from a terrifying domestic assault, a court heard.

Magistrates sitting at Carlisle’s Rickergate court were shown a series of graphic photos which police took of 52-year-old Jane Lloyd after police caught her driving her Range Rover while over the drink drive limit in Ullswater Road, Penrith.

The images showed she had extensive bruising on her arms, legs, and back, as well as injuries to her feet. In court, Lloyd admitted drink driving on October 15 last year.

Pam Ward, prosecuting, outlined how police were made aware that Lloyd had driven from a local caravan park after drinking. Police spotted her Range Rover parked in Ullswater Road, near Castle Park. As police arrived, the defendant - still in her dressing gown - drove off.

She stopped again a short time later near to Queen Elizabeth Grammar School. A breath test showed she was over the drink drive limit.

Mark Shepherd, for Lloyd, said: "The subtext of this is domestic violence - and terrifying domestic violence at that." He said Miss Lloyd's partner had smashed her phone and - though he had never been violent before - he became extremely violent.

Lloyd had sought - and been given - help at the nearby Agricultural Hotel in Penrith, but then drove again to get a phone signal. no further she would have had a defence to the charge, said Mr Shepherd. "She was in such distress that she left without getting her belongings, or getting properly dressed," he said

Witnesses at the caravan park heard screams, and staff found "devastation" in their lodge - broken glass and a lot of blood, said Mr Shepherd.

When Lloyd, of McKinley Court, East Kilbride, Glasgow, drove in Ullswater Road, she was not thinking clearly. Mr Shepherd added that the defendant worked as an air hostess out of Edinburgh Airport and the inevitable ban would have a significant effect on her ability to get to work. Magistrates imposed the minimum 12 month driving ban, along with £85 costs, and a £32 victim surcharge.