A 19-YEAR-OLD who drove her car at 4am after a night of drinking at town centre bars has been told she will be banned for her “poor error of judgement”.

Nicole Valerie Sidonia Armstrong, of Shearwater Avenue, in Darlington, had driven her Toyota Aygo to a relative’s address to babysit for the evening on August 6.

The car was then parked in Duke Street while Armstrong had four drinks with friends and family in the town centre.

Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court heard last week that the part-time shop worker had decided to return to her car to charge her phone in the early hours.

Her solicitor, Ben Pegman, said: “It’s just short of four in the morning and she’s of the view that someone spiked her drink while she was in town.

“There are large parts of the night that she can’t remember and that are unaccounted for. She said she only had four drinks.

“She’s made a very poor error of judgement and drove the very short distance before being stopped by relatives.”

The court heard that 19-year-old Armstrong recalled being sat in the driver’s seat of the car without the keys in the ignition after members of her family had removed them to prevent her from driving.

A Crown Prosecution Service statement read out in court said: “The defendant drove her Toyota Aygo on Duke Street in Darlington before she stopped her vehicle in the road.

“Some of her relatives and friends had been drinking with her and they’ve forced her to stop the vehicle and they’ve taken the keys from her.

“A police officer arrived by chance and noticed the defendant was blocking the middle of the road.

“She was breathalysed and taken back to Darlington Police Station and there here lowest reading was 61 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres.”

The drink driving limit is 35 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, putting Armstrong at nearly twice the limit.

Armstrong, of previously good character, pleaded guilty to a single charge of driving while over the limit and cried as magistrates sentenced her for the offence.

She was comforted by a family member as she was told she must be disqualified from driving.

Magistrates fined her £120 and ordered her to pay court costs of £85 and a £30 victim surcharge.

The teenager was also banned from driving for 12 months and was offered the chance to take the drink-drive rehabilitation course in the near future.