A WOMAN caught drink driving on the M6 in north Cumbria said she 'panicked' after a first date with a person she met online ended with her suffering 'aggressive' behaviour. 

Lisa Shirley Gorley, 35, was spotted by a routine police patrol on the evening of November 19 near Carlisle. 

A breath-test confirmed she had 96mcg of alcohol in 100mls of breath – significantly more than twice the 35mcg legal limit for driving. She pleaded guilty to an allegation of driving over the prescribed limit.

Pam Ward, prosecuting at Carlisle’s Rickergate court, said police first noticed the defendant at 8.40pm as she drove her Ford Focus on the southbond M6 carriageway near Junction 42.

Her car was 'swerving between lanes'.

When she was stopped, the police officer could smell alcohol and asked Gorley whether she had been drinking.

“She replied that she’d had a couple of vodkas,” said Mrs Ward. She produced a positive breath test result.

Defence lawyer Lauren Heasley read to the court the defendant's letter of explanation, which began with Gorley apologising for her actions.

She accepted that what she did on November 19 had been 'highly irresponsible' and said she now totally regretted driving while over the alcohol limit.

“I have never in my life been in trouble with the law,” she said.

Explaining the background, she said she had been through a relationship breakup in July and had taken on a new job, which involved her working 12-hour days and resulted in high levels of stress.

This in turn had led to her using alcohol and taking a decision which put her in a high-risk situation.

On the evening of the offence, she said, she had been to meet a person she had met through an online dating app.

“After four hours, the person suddenly became aggressive and asked me to leave,” she said.

She panicked, she said. It was in that context, as she was getting away from what was a remote location, that she decided to drive.

“I was genuinely petrified,” she said, adding that she had been sober since that evening.

Gorley now plans to work through her mental health challenges and had been prescribed medication for anxiety. Miss Heasley told magistrates: “If matters had been slightly different, she could have raised emergency as a defence.

“But she accepts that, in this case, she drove too far; she was more than 20 miles from where she had set off.”

In her new job, Gorley travelled all over the UK but she had not yet discussed the impact of the inevitable ban with her employer.

A probation officer told magistrates that Gorley represented a 'low risk' of reoffending. She was also genuinely remorseful.

Noting her previous good character, and her efforts to seek help, magistrates imposed a fine of £1,346 – so high because the defendant’s monthly take-home pay after deductions was said to be £3,500.

She must also pay a £538 victim surcharge and £85 costs. The defendant, of Garden Close, Poulton-le-Fylde, was given a two-year driving ban.