Drunk student who drove into runner jailed

A 20-year-old student has been jailed for driving into a runner while drunk, before fleeing the scene.

Katie Allan, who was studying Geography at the University of Glasgow, had consumed four pints of cider before driving home from a pub on 10 August last year.

Her Ford Fiesta hit a central reservation in the Glasgow suburb of Giffnock before she collided with the 15-year-old boy, who was out running.

Allan drove off after the crash.

Her victim was left lying unconscious on the pavement with blood pouring from his head.

He also suffered a broken ankle and a fractured eye socket and had to take two weeks off school. He spent months on crutches.

Allan admitted her guilt when she appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court last month.

She pled guilty to causing serious injury to the teenager by driving dangerously, and driving with 87 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath - more than four-times the legal limit.

Allan's car registration was given to police by a witness and officers found her drunk at her home.

She was also "upset and distressed", put her hands out in front of her so she could be handcuffed and "repeatedly asked the officers if the person she struck was OK."

Defence solicitor Amy Spencer told the court Allan was "truly sorry" and had apologised to her victim.

The lawyer asked for leniency for her client, saying she could carry out unpaid work and pay compensation to the victim as punishment.

But Sheriff David Pender ruled there was only one appropriate sentence - and jailed Allan for 16 months.

He told Allan: "You were very much under the influence of alcohol - it should have been very obvious to you that you were not in a condition to drive.

"In my view the combination of the two charges [dangerous driving and drink-driving] makes it impossible to deal with in a non-custodial way."

He also banned Allan, from Muirend, Glasgow, from driving for four years and told her to sit and pass the extended test before she can drive again.