Nervous mom downed wine on pub Tinder date – then wrecked her automotive in drunken crash
A single mother wrote off her car in a crash after she drank too much wine while ‘overcome with nerves’ on a first date with a man she met on Tinder.
Simone Keogh, 33, lost control of her car, crashing into a lamp post before reversing into a wall and wedging the vehicle on a bollard, a court heard.
She tested more than three times the alcohol limit after a witness called the police when she was seen getting out of the Kia Rio and walking away.
Keogh, who has a teenage son, had been driving home with the man, her first date since she split from her long-term partner. The pair had shared two bottles of wine after meeting at the Ring O’ Bells pub in Daresbury, the Cheshire village which is the birthplace of Alice in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll.
She is no longer in touch with the man and the court heard that a probation officer who spoke to Keogh concluded it was a ‘blind date which turned unsavoury’.
Her lawyer John Farnan told magistrates: ‘She was on a first date and was overcome with nerves and accepts that she overindulged.
‘It was completely out of character and she is fully aware she could have injured someone.’
He said her date had been ‘trying to show her a cut through various roadworks’ before the smash on January 25.
Simeone Keogh tested more than three times the alcohol limit after her overindulging in wine on a first date led her to crash her car
Keogh, of Runcorn, pleaded guilty to driving with 114 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath
Keogh, of Runcorn, pleaded guilty to driving with 114 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.
Warrington magistrates sentenced her to a 12-month community order requiring her to do 80 hours of unpaid work and go to 12 days of rehabilitation activity.
In mitigation, Mr Farnan added that Keogh was ‘absolutely mortified’ and felt ‘ashamed’. He said she had been working in a Government ombudsman’s office before recently starting a new career as a trainee accountant.
Probation officer Mike Isherwood told the court: ‘She had been on Tinder and was chatting with a chap for a couple of weeks.
‘The evening went relatively well and what she planned to do was to leave the car at the pub.
‘She is not a regular drinker but on this evening some wine was purchased, a bottle of wine and then another bottle.
Keogh said she was ‘overcome with nerves’ when she shared two bottles of wine in a pub with a man she had met on Tinder (file photo)
‘She has a blurred recollection of leaving the pub and the man tried to explain that she needed to find another route home.
‘There seemed a lot of roadworks and in a short distance, she collided with something.’
Her next recollections were ‘vague’ before police ‘caught up with her’, he added.
The court heard the man, who has not been named, messaged her but they are not in contact.
Mr Isherwood added Keogh has come off dating sites to focus on her son and career plus has scrapped her car. She was also banned from driving for two years.
