Superstitious drink-driver was spooked by magpie

A superstitious drink-driver who was spooked by a magpie crashed into a police van starting a blaze which shut the road. Deborah Ellis said she was distracted by the bird which was flying alongside her car. She clipped the kerb and then crashed into the on-coming van. Both vehicles caught fire and the Mold to Wrexham Road was closed at Pontblyddyn for some time after the smash on November 14. Ellis, 50, of Ffordd Trem y Foel in Mold, admitted she was three and a half times the drink drive limit at the wheel of her Vauxhall Corsa. She was found to have 121 microgrammes of alcohol in her breath, compared to the legal limit of 35.

Prosecutor Matthew Ellis told Flintshire magistrates that Ellis was driving along the A541 towards Mold when her car clipped the kerb. It moved across the road and collided with a police civilian vehicle being driven in the opposite direction. Such was the nature of the collision that both vehicles caught fire and the fire service attended in order to douse the flames. The defendant provided a positive breathtest at the scene, was arrested and taken to Wrexham custody where she provided the alcohol reading of 121 microgrammes.



Interviewed, she said that she looked out of a side window and saw a magpie. That attracted her attention and she drifted across the road. Phillip Lloyd-Jones, defending, said his client was superstitious, her attention was attracted by the magpie which resulted in her clipping the kerb and losing control of her vehicle. That resulted in a collision with the on-coming police van. Ellis was a lady of no previous convictions who had co-operated fully with the investigation and pleaded guilty at the very first opportunity. Thankfully no one had been seriously injured. The other driver escaped with shock and she was treated for minor injuries.

Mr Lloyd-Jones said that his client had been under considerable strain. She had been dismissed from her employment which she believed was unfair and it was currently the subject of an industrial tribunal. The impact of the tribunal proceedings led her to drink to excess and she had already referred herself to the counselling service CAIS which was on-going. That pre-dated the accident, he said. She was banned from driving for two years and placed on a 12 month community order under which she must carry out 150 hours unpaid work. She was ordered to pay £85 costs.