Spiked drink blamed for crashes, threats to police

Yamba woman claims she has no memory of driving while drunk and crashing her car twice, then threatening to kill a police officer.

A woman has claimed her drink was spike and had no memory of crashing her car twice while drunk.

A WOMAN has told a court she has no memory of driving while drunk and crashing her car twice, or of threatening to kill a police officer, after her drink was spiked.

Sophia Morgan, 23, faced Maclean Local Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to driving with mid-range PCA and intimidating a police officer in execution of their duty.

The court heard that on the evening of June 2 this year Morgan went to the Pacific Hotel in Yamba with a friend and had two drinks before leaving.

Court documents reveal Morgan was captured on CCTV footage leaving with a six pack of beer, then driving away.

About 11pm that night witnesses and CCTV footage recorded Morgan driving from a Yamba address along Clarence St where she side swiped another vehicle, before driving away at excessive speeds.

The court heard Morgan then crossed onto the wrong side of the road, mounted a median strip then drove over the top of a roundabout before coming to a stop on the side of the road.

Morgan was helped from the vehicle and police were called, and Morgan recorded a positive roadside breath test of 0.187. She was then taken to Yamba Police Station where a second analysis returned a reading 0f 0.117.

The court heard Morgan was taken by police to her mother's address, but were called back shortly after when Morgan entered a psychotic state, and made very serious threats against police who responded to the call, who with the assistance of NSW Ambulance paramedics sedated her and transported her to Lismore Base Hospital.

Morgan's solicitor Mark Spagnolo told the court his client has no recollection of anything beyond her leaving the Pacific Hotel that night, and the only clue is from a text message on her phone that stated she didn't feel safe at her friend's address.

Mr Spagnolo told the court that while there was no toxicology report done on his client, he submitted that she believed her drink was spiked and that "clearly something happened to her".

He also submitted that his client had struggled with serious mental health issues in the past as a result of a number of traumatic experiences in her youth.

Magistrate Kathy Crittenden accepted that Morgan's significant mental health issues had a role to play in her offending, but said she had made a deliberate choice to drink and drive, with the fact that she was on a provisional licence at the time an aggravating factor.

"Your driving was an extremely alarming course of conduct, and if anyone had been in your path God knows what charges you would be facing," Ms Crittenden said.

The magistrate said that while she found there to be a "strong causal link" between Morgan's mental health and the intimidation offence, she also said that it was a very serious threat on an officer that deserved respect.

Morgan was convicted and sentenced to a conditional release order for 18 months, and disqualified from driving for six months.

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