News / Care worker banned
A SHETLAND care worker looks set to lose her job after being banned from driving at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday.
Hazel Leask, of 25 Hoofields, Lerwick, had previously pled guilty to driving carelessly while under the influence of prescribed drugs on 29 April last year.
The court heard how she had repeatedly swerved across the main A970 between the junctions at Fladdabister and Sandwick, encroaching onto the roadside verge at times.
During an hour long “proof” hearing it emerged that the 44 year old suffers from fibromyalgia, which causes fatigue, sleep disturbance and depression.
Leask has to take five different drugs to deal with the condition, including amitriptyline and gabapentin, and on the day in question had changed the time she took the amitriptyline in order to fight the onset of a migraine headache.
That day she got behind the wheel of her car and was later reported to the police by one driver concerned about her swerving across the middle of the road.
Defence agent Tommy Allan tried to convince the court that there were special reasons that Leask should be allowed to keep her licence, on which her job depends.
Giving evidence, she told the court she considered herself well used to amitriptyline having been on a steady dose for a long time, and would not have set off had she the “slightest doubt” in her ability to drive that day.
But procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said that Leask’s driving had been impaired “to quite an significant extent” by taking gabapentin alongside the amitriptyline.
“People have a responsibility to take prescribed drugs responsibly,” he said, adding that a driving licence was a “privilege” and not an “entitlement”.
After a 30 minute adjournment, Sheriff Philip Mann said that while he did have sympathy for Leask’s position, he saw no reason he should not disqualify her from driving as she had significantly changed the usual way she took her medication.
Fining her £550 and banning her for the minimum of one year, the sheriff said: “You shouldn’t have driven until you were sure what effect the combination of the drugs had on you.”
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