Fine for car scratcher
A socialite who failed to give her details after she scratched her neighbour’s car with her Mercedes was fined £150 today (thurs).
Marie Lindblad-Hill, 46, was spotted by an Uber driver when she accidentally scraped her neighbour’s blue Tesla outside her £4m home in Abingdon Villas, Kensington.
The mum-of-two, who was once pictured in society glossy mag Tatler at a benefit for heroes of the Afghan war, failed to leave her details after the incident on 6 December last year.
Lindblad-Hill had denied damaging the Tesla with her Mercedes E Class Elegance when the Uber driver confronted her and police were called, Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court heard.
When police attended her home, she allegedly had a large whiskey in her hand and a breath test revealed she had 60 micrograms of alcohol to 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.
She initially denied driving a motor vehicle above the legal limit and being a driver failing to leave details following an accident.
Lindblad-Hill admitted failing to leave her details at Hammersmith Magistrates Court today (thurs) and the prosecution offered no evidence on the drink-driving charge.
John Lye, for Lindblad-Hill, said: ‘Her assertion has always been that she was drinking afterwards and drinking to the extent that it would be likely to put her over the drink drive limit.
‘This should have been looked at a long time ago and a great deal of court time wouldn’t have been wasted.
‘It is their neighbourhood and she and her husband have tried to find the car and who it belongs to and give their details – it’s embarrassing for one thing.
‘There has been no claim and no figure for the damage.
‘The kids were rowing in the back of the car, she was distracted, she didn’t realise she had scratched the other vehicle but accepts that she might have done.
‘She’s a woman of good character, she’s never been before the courts before and it’s all been very salutary for her in any event.’
Lindblad-Hill, of (74) Abingdon Villas, Kensington, was fined £150 and ordered to pay a £30 victim surcharge by District Judge Margot Coleman, with three penalty points on her licence.
She admitted failing to leave her details at the scene of an accident.
ENDS
