A trainee project manager who was caught behind the wheel after knocking back cocktails has escaped a driving ban after telling police she was intending to drive her injured friend to the hospital.
Mia Elliott, 20, was found to be one and a half times over the alcohol limit when she was pulled over by police in her VW Polo on January 29.
She told officers she was taking her a friend to hospital after he had been assaulted outside a nightclub in Heswall, the Wirral, but ‘officers were unable to work out who she meant’ as no one else was in the car.
Police found Elliot with the engine running and when they spoke to her ‘it became apparent she was intoxicated’ as officers could ‘smell alcohol and her speech was slurred slightly’.
A breathalyser showed Elliott had 49 micrograms of alcohol in 100 milllilitres of breath, the legal limit being 35mg. She was arrested and taken to a police station where she gave a ‘no comment’ interview.
Mia Elliott, 20, (pictured) was out partying with her friends on January 29, 2023 in Heswall, Wirrall before she was pulled over by police at around 2am after she was one and half times over the alcohol limit.
Elliot was given an absolute discharge and even praised by JPs after claiming she had gone to fetch her VW Polo to take Brooklyn Connis (pictured) to hospital after he was allegedly beaten up outside a nightclub
Paula Grogan, prosecuting, told Wirral magistrates: ‘Officers initially noticed this young lady running up the road and appeared to be distressed. A male was walking in the same direction behind the female.
‘The officers decided to check on the lady’s welfare so they turned around but then noticed a vehicle further up the road with the headlights on and on approaching it they saw this young lady in the driver’s seat.
‘The engine was running. They spoke with her and it became apparent that she was intoxicated. They could smell alcohol and her speech was slurred slightly. She was subsequently arrested and taken to custody.
‘She did make a comment to one of the officers at the scene that she had to take somebody to hospital but the officers were unable to work out who she meant.
‘There was no one at the scene with apparent injuries and she never mentions it to the officers again during the time in custody, including when she is subsequently interviewed by officers when she makes a full ‘No comment.’
‘Apart from that one comment about someone needing to be taken to hospital the lady does not seem to follow that up at all.’
Tests showed Elliott had 49 micrograms of alcohol in 100 milllilitres of breath, the legal limit being 35mg.
Miss Grogan added: ‘If she was truly in an emergency situation where somebody needed immediate help would she have walked or ran right past a marked police vehicle, basically an emergency first responder.
‘If there was an emergency situation she could have flagged the police down.. Surely the first port of call would have been the officers in the mobile patrol that the lady went straight past? She does not take advantage that she has the officers there to ask assistance for the person she is telling you that needs assistance.
‘When you have got police officers who are trained to deal with people in distress or being assaulted it just seems remarkable. It was not necessarily the emergency being suggested.’
The court heard police made enquires to see whether there had been any incidents in the locality at the time of arrest but apart from a minor argument outside a kebab shop, no crime was reported and there were no reports of an ambulance being summonsed.
Inspector Danny Murphy told the hearing: ‘She said something along the lines of ”There’s a male injured down there,” – but she did not expand further on that at that point.
‘She was upset and distressed and she started crying. I started to put her at ease a little. I could understand that she was in a difficult situation. She was taken to Wirral custody suite, but nothing else was mentioned about a male being injured.’
Sgt Peter Jenkins added: ‘Whilst being transported to the police station she just constantly apologised throughout the journey and there was no mention of this person. People were out. They were vulnerable, having been drinking, having a good time and not necessarily paying attention to the roads.
‘If Miss Elliott had come out of that road and turned left towards Heswall there would have been a risk and mitigating that risk is what we achieved.’
Representing herself, Elliott said she had intended to take her friend to Arrowe Park Hospital which was three and a half miles away from the scene.
‘I have never been in this situation before and the lawyer’s advice was to give ‘No comment’,’ she said. ‘I was more than happy to have told the truth in the interview – but I just believed the lawyers. If I had been given better legal advice I would have just answered all the questions.’
She said that evening she had drunk about five cocktails, alternating with water, since 7pm but claimed it had been a couple of hours since her last drink when she got in the car.
She said she was a two on a scale of one to 10 in drunkenness, with 10 being ‘totally drunk’.
Elliot claims she was a two on a scale of one to 10 in drunkenness, with 10 being ‘totally drunk’
‘Just prior to that about 2am, my friend Brooklyn had been assaulted quite seriously,’ she added, ‘While being inside the Suede club, one of my friends ran to tell me. I went outside and went over and there was a lot of blood on his face.
‘He was claiming he could not see, that he could not breathe and over time he began to claim that he was going to pass out. I asked if an ambulance had been called.
‘My friend Daisy had phoned for an ambulance but 15 minutes went by and there was no sign of it coming.
‘Brooklyn was only getting worse and again saying he was going to pass out. We phoned for an ambulance again and after some time it did not seem like it was arriving.
‘Obviously with the injury being to his head we were all really worried. Our friends were crying and distressed, and I was trying to calm them down as well as Brooklyn. With a head injury, all I know is that sooner the better getting medical care. It was quite clear he needed it.
‘That’s when I suggested that I drive him, as I was the only person with a car nearby. Everyone was in agreement. My friends would never let me get in the car if I was under the influence of alcohol but I believed that I was okay to drive.
‘Another male friend Thomas Webster was going to accompany me – and that’s why he was behind me. The inspector asked me first if I had been drinking. I said ‘Yes’ but I needed to get my friend to the hospital. I was in an emergency situation.
‘I can see the other officer is going to speak to Thomas. The officer told me to get out of the car, which I did, and that’s when he arrested me.’
‘I was under constant watch because I was in a bit of state. I was not sure if Daisy had cancelled the ambulance when she knew I was going to take him there.’
Mr Connis confirmed that he had been assaulted by an unknown man outside the Suede club in Heswall and that he spent 12 hours in hospital with friend Daisy Moran, who called the ambulance.
He said he was having ‘ongoing issues’ with the sight in his left eye requiring weekly appointments. ‘When it happened, I could not see at all,’ Mr Connis said.
He said he had not made a formal complaint about the assault and had not been aware of Miss Elliott going to get her car.
Miss Moran said she saw Mr Connis being punched repeatedly in the face while on the floor.
She said she and her friends were tending to Connis’ head wound and that after the second time of phoning for an ambulance, they all agreed Elliott could get her car to take him herself.
‘We believed that Mia was not over the limit. In fact the ambulance arrived about five minutes later.’ She added that it did not cross her mind to phone the police and claimed: ‘I just saw the blood.’
Chairman Geoff Green told Miss Elliott: ‘We have listened to what has been said from all the parties.
The evidence we have heard from you leads us to believe that you were doing the right thing in helping Brooklyn.
We do find there are special reasons. The reason for that is that we thought you were doing the right thing in an emergency situation to help your friend in peril.
‘Taking all things into consideration, you will not be disqualified and there will be no points on your licence.’
According the Sentencing Council, an absolute discharge means the court has decided not to impose any punishment because the ‘experience of going to court has been punishment enough.’
