A drunk driver tried to fool police by drinking hand sanitizer before she was given a breathalyzer test not realizing that the substance contains alcohol. Sophie Nutter, 29, avoided prison after testing 1.5x the legal limit even though she could have killed someone and was already in breach of a suspended sentence, the Daily Mail reports.
- Nutter was driving dangerously when she was stopped. Officers noted her swerving around the road in her Suzuki Swift with four flat tires and a broken windshield. Police pulled her over immediately as it was pretty clear something wasn’t right. There were also said to be two impact marks on the vehicle as well as dried blood on the rear door and a smear of blood on the front headlight, according to The Sun.
- She was chugging the sanitizer when police approached her car. She believed that by downing the substance, she’d avoid getting caught driving under the influence. Unfortunately, her plan seriously backfired since hand sanitizer contains 60% alcohol.
- Nutter admitted her offense at court. Appearing at Hull Crown Court, Nutter, from Beverly in East Yorkshire, UK, admitted drink-driving as well as using a vehicle likely to cause danger of injury.
- She should have been sent to prison. That’s because she was already in breach of a two-year suspended sentence for drug offenses she received in October 2020. She and partner Jack Walker were said to have transported cocaine across the area but were caught red-handed. Not only that, but she was found to have engaged in disorderly and criminal behavior at her home and caused a “serious nuisance” to members of the public, prompting a three-month closure order on her home meaning only she can enter and leave the property at any time. However, the judge allowed her to stay out of jail, giving her a one-year community order £100 ($130) fine, and a 23-month driving ban.
