Driver ‘hadn’t drunk for 14 hours’ before hitting boy, 6

Hayley Walker was fined and banned from driving. Picture: Vic Roderick

Hayley Walker went through a red light at the pedestrian crossing before hitting the youngster, knocking him up on to the bonnet of her car before he fell to the ground.

Her lawyer, Darryl Lovie, yesterday described the “morning after” drink-drive case as “a perfect demonstration of just how long alcohol can remain in one’s system”.

Walker, 22, caused the accident in Main Street, Stoneyburn, West Lothian, at 2pm on September 7 last year.

Although she claimed she had not drunk alcohol since midnight the evening before, her breath test reading was 60 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.

The legal limit at the time was 35 microgrammes, although that has since been reduced to just 22 microgrammes.

In addition to drink-driving,  Walker, of Starlaw Walk, Bathgate, pleaded guilty to driving dangerously; failing to keep a proper lookout; failing to comply with traffic signals at a pedestrian crossing; and colliding with the boy, causing him to fall to the ground to his injury.

Alastair Macleod, prosecuting said the youngster had been detained overnight in hospital for observation. He suffered minor bruising, but no significant or serious injuries.

Mr Macleod said Walker and three other witnesses who were in the vicinity went to the boy’s aid while an ambulance and police were summoned.

He said: “When police arrived he was sitting up, conscious and breathing and the accused made herself known to the police as the driver of the vehicle.

“She was in a distressed state and was invited to sit in the rear of the police vehicle to calm down.”

He said Walker later failed a series of breath tests and was cautioned and charged. She told police that she had been out the night before but had not consumed any alcohol that day.

Mr Lovie, defending, said his client had been momentarily distracted by a noise from her mobile phone as she approached the crossing.

Walker, who had no previous convictions, was fined £900 and disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for 12 months. Sheriff Martin Edington told her she would also have to pass the extended test of competence to drive before getting back behind the wheel.