Drunk solicit

A drunk solicitor who caused two crashes after a boozy lunch, has been ordered to pay a £20,000 fine, as she narrowly misses being struck off. 

Elizabeth Thomson caused two crashes after she got behind the wheel of her Jaguar XS following an afternoon lunch where she had been drinking wine, a tribunal heard.

While nearly three times the limit, she mounted the kerb and entered the opposite lane as she swerved on the road. 

A tribunal heard that he drunk driving was so bad she could have killed someone. 

It was only thanks to the 'quick-thinking' of one of the other drivers involved, that a more serious collision was avoided. 

During the erratic episode, Thomson caused two crashes, one involving a family car to go flying off the road into a hedge, before crashing head-on into another vehicle.

But, Thomson continued to drive after both crashes - even though her front wheel was facing the wrong way, the tyre was shredded, and the metal alloy was scraping the road and causing sparks to fly.

Thomson, a solicitor of over 20 years, had been drinking wine at an afternoon lunch but blamed 'immense pressures at work'.

A Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal [SDT] ruled she 'posed a serious risk to public safety' and fined her £17,500 and ordered her to pay £2,500 costs.

The incident happened in November 2022 when Thomson was a partner in the residential conveyancing department of Boys and Maughan LLP, based in Ramsgate, Kent.

Thomson - who is now freelance - had been driving through Kent at the time of the two crashes around 5pm.

The tribunal's judgment said: 'The Police Report notes that... [Thomson's] Jaguar XS was driving along St Martin's Hill in Canterbury in the direction of Sandwich swerving from side to side and mounting the kerb.

'At approximately 5.20pm, further along the A527, Canterbury Road, just before entering Littlebourne, [her] vehicle entered the opposing lane facing oncoming traffic and caused an oncoming vehicle to take evasive action to avoid a head on collision.

'The driver of the other vehicle was forced to partially leave the road and enter a hedge. Despite the actions of the other driver, the two vehicles still collided causing damage to both cars.

'The passengers in the Hyundai IONIQ vehicle involved in the first collision included the driver's wife, son and two teenagers who were friends of the driver's family.

'The report notes that it was only the quick thinking and actions of the Hyundai driver that avoided a more serious collision.

'[Thomson] did not stop, and continued to drive, failing to stop and exchange insurance details.

'[She] continued her journey along the A527 through Littlebourne and Wingham, travelling along the 'Wingham Dip', outside Wingham Wildfire Park still on the A527.

'The vehicle was seen to be swerving from left to right, again entering the opposite lane, and travelling towards oncoming traffic.

'A short distance after the Wildlife Park, [Thomson's] vehicle then collided with another vehicle, a Kia VENGA, which had been travelling in the opposite direction.

'There were four passengers in this car including the driver, his wife and their two daughters.

'[Thomson] collided with the front-off side wheel of the Kia vehicle. She again failed to stop to exchange insurance details after the collision.

'The report then states that at 5.35pm, an off-duty Police officer, PC Taylor, was travelling along the A257 when he became aware of [Thomson's] erratic driving.

'There was a pattern of swerving into oncoming traffic by entering the opposing lane by [Thomson].

'Officer Taylor was so alarmed by the Respondent's driving that he felt the need to follow and get behind [her] vehicle to protect other road-users.

'The report states that, as he was travelling behind [her] vehicle, the Officer observed that the front off-side wheel of the vehicle was badly damaged, facing the wrong direction and the tyre was shredded, and the metal alloy wheel was scraping the road and emitting sparks.

'[Thomson] continued to drive erratically, slowing down to 5mph then suddenly speeding up to 30mph despite the damage to the front wheel, which may have also caused her to fail to 'maintain her lane discipline'.'

She was brought to a stop and arrested, later admitting drink driving at Maidstone Magistrates' Court in Kent. She was given a suspended sentence and banned for driving for 26 months.

At tribunal, Thomson 'described her struggles with coping with the level work and immense pressures at work as well as her personal circumstances'.

The panel concluded: '[Thomson's] actions were the result of a spontaneous and bad error of judgement, but she had been directly in control of her drinking and the actions that resulted from it.

'In addition, [she] was a highly experienced solicitor, who should have known better

'[Thomson's] actions on 5 November 2022 had also posed a serious risk to public safety.

'There was a risk that she could have potentially killed or seriously injured a third party or parties by her actions, although it appeared that, at least, no serious injuries had been caused to anyone.'

The panel rejected the need for her to be suspended.

'Whilst the Tribunal recognised that misconduct involving criminal convictions can require a very serious sanction,[Thomson's] misconduct in the present case, albeit reckless, resulted from a one-off grave error of judgment, for which [she] has demonstrated a real insight and remorse.

'As [she] no longer posed a risk to the public, the Tribunal considered that suspension would not serve any purpose and, thus, would not have been appropriate.'