www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-16425064
Audrey Baxter, 50, she of the eponymous Soup, must have been sampling products from another supplier.
Quote "being banned will cause her business problems"
Rubbish - multi-millionaires can hire chauffeurs, drivers, taxis.............more on an inconvenience rather than a problem
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Silly woman and indeed she'll be able to buy a temporary solution to her transport needs. Where she lives it will though be inconvenient, everything is quite a long journey in that neck of the woods. I see she claims in mitigation that she took a view that she needed to drive her partner to hospital on an urgent basis.
I recall only too well being faced with a similar dilemma. At the time we too lived in rural Scotland in a tiny hamlet 45 minutes to an hour from the nearest emergency hospital facility. It was about this time of year,or to be more accurate the days between Christmas and New year. One of our very few neighbours had thrown a party and all the drivers in the village including me had drunk enough to be over the limit. An hour or so after we got back to our place and we had sent the baby sitter home my then infant son took ill. He was in great distress, we called an emergency doctor service, described his symptoms and they strongly advised getting him to hospital urgently.
Well, the thing was, I was over the limit, not roaring drunk but enough to make driving illegal, so was my wife and so were any neighbours who could have helped. There were no local taxi firms. The upshot was we had to ask for an ambulance which took nearly an hour to come due to the distance involved and a further 45 minutes to reach the hospital. I was desperate with worry for my son and very nearly threw caution to the wind and drove. However, in the end I didn't.
As it turned out, it was the right call, my son was indeed poorly but recovered very quickly. Had he not though, I really don't know if I could have lived with myself afterwards.
To be frank, although our circumstances and address have since changed, I still can't bring myself to drink enough to be over the limit even now some 11 years later.
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Thu 5 Jan 12 at 22:10
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It's often difficult to know what to do in an emergency - and Humph's solution is the only one if one is sensible. But I might have had a sneaking sympathy for Mrs Baxter if she hadn't blocked the ambulance bay for 45 minutes. That could have put someone else's life at risk.
And indeed she can afford a chauffeur: Baxters have resisted a takeover for many years because they have been so successful on their own.
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£600 fine seems a bit light - probably marginally over the limit?
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>> £600 fine seems a bit light - probably marginally over the limit?
>>
She was nearly double. I thought the fine was light - isn't it supposed to be earning related? And she only got a 12mth ban.
I bet the RangeRover is in the company name, so people like her will be safe from having their vehicles confiscated under recently introduced Scottish legislation: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-16414691
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I have a vaguely similar story to Humphs. Except I did drive - about the only time I have ever driven over the limit, and definitely the last time...
My life was at an all time low.
My marriage was ending, I had major money problems, I had recently lost two members of my family, and my mother was ill in hospital.
I had drunk a few pints, when the phone went.
It was my dad.. He said mum had a short time to live.
I jumped in the car after drinking some black coffee, and drove to the hospital, luckily without incident.
I missed my mother's passing by minutes.
These days I hardly ever drink alcohol, and never if there is a faintest possibility of needed to get somewhere in a hurry.
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And you know, that's where it all gets a bit woolly doesn't it? I think we can all think of situations when we are sobered by circumstances but would still be over the limit. I know there has to be a rule but as is illustrated by a concurrent thread that rule is only enforceable because alcohol in the blood is easy to accurately measure.
To this day I still wonder if I made the right decision. Events prove it so in hindsight but that's a very comfortable viewpoint. Would I do the same again? I hope I never have to find out.
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Its a problem I probably wouldn't face. I could have a taxi here (home) in 5 minutes, an ambulance same.
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>> Well, the thing was, I was over the limit, not roaring drunk but enough to
>> make driving illegal, so was my wife ....
I don't know if it's valid in Scotland but in England you could have ordered your wife to drive and she could have used the fact that she was obeying you as a defence. A couple in Manchester did it a few years ago.
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>> Eh ?
>>
If that's aimed at my comment; the link I had to story in The Independent doesn't seem to work, but here's a capture of the story on another site: www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-5114569.html
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Well, we live in England now so that's Saturday nights sorted !
:-))
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That was an unjust and dour decision by the court.
I wouldn't hesitate for a single second to drive over the blood/alcohol limit if someone needed emergency ferrying to hospital. First things first. I wouldn't expect to be a danger to anyone. Of course others take a different view and are entitled to. But under those circumstances I wouldn't pay much attention to them.
Did this Mrs Baxter cause an accident? Was she seen driving erratically? No, she left her car in an ambulance bay for 45 minutes being worried no doubt about the state of her husband, a mistake perhaps. And some snivelling sneak in the hospital ratted her up to the dour Orkney fuzz.
Utterly disgraceful. Just as well she can afford it.
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On Speyside they make whisky, soup and pickles. She obviously chose to get pickled
She is worth a reputed £120 million and live in a £2m house.
For someone with the business success surely a better business decision would have been to get a taxi, one of the estate employees / drivers to drive her husband to hospital..........but when you have had a few clear thinking can be tricky.
Let's hope she was fully sober when she decided to buy Fray Bentos, the Company not just a Tin of Corned Beef/ Individual Steak Pie, the other week
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S'funny having money (real money) dohling, I think I'll by Fray Bentos, and put a Hotel on The Old Kent Rd.,
:D
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Mr Baxter had a poorly tummy and was dehydrated, presumably due to taking a bigger scoop of drink at the party than she did.
Lame excuse for driving, quite properly rejected by the court.
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>> Mr Baxter had a poorly tummy and was dehydrated, presumably due to taking a bigger
>> scoop of drink at the party than she did.
Lets hope it wasn't due to an intake of the companies products.
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...Lets hope it wasn't due to an intake of the company's products...
I'm quite partial to a Fray Bentos steak and kidney pie.
No good for the waistline, of course, but I'm prepared to admit in semi-anonymity that I've been known to flatten a large one at a single sitting.
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>> but I'm prepared to admit in semi-anonymity that
>> I've been known to flatten a large one at a single sitting.
How strange. It has never occurred to me before now that one would do anything else. That's slightly worrying. Oh, do let's have a thread on portion sizes, obviously entitled "How big is yours?"
Last edited by: Crankcase on Fri 6 Jan 12 at 09:37
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Yes come on, lets be serious here, they are quite small.
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Alert, alert, danger Will Robinson.
I just discovered Amazon do, well, let's just call it "stuff". I had no idea. Who knew?
Now, whatever is a peanut butter Twix...and a Red Twist...and...and...
www.amazon.co.uk/b/ref=sv_grocery_2?ie=UTF8&node=358604031
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...they are quite small...
The 'Classic' of which I speak is 475g - more than a pound weight.
Quite often on offer in supermarkets for around £1 - bargain.
Served with a tin of mushy peas it makes a cheap meal from the store cupboard when there's nothing fresh to hand.
I will investigate Bromp's recommendation of the puddings - they are about half the size.
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>> ...they are quite small...
>>
>> The 'Classic' of which I speak is 475g - more than a pound weight.
Its not even a big 18 ounce steak, and thats before you add the chips, onion rings, mushrooms and peas.
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>> I'm quite partial to a Fray Bentos steak and kidney pie.
The pies are good but the S&K pud with suet crust is the food of the Gods.
Bonus is that it's easily prepared in a Youth Hostel kitchen after a day on the bike.
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Is not Fray Bentos owned by Premier foods? Nothing to do with Baxters?
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I passed my cooking skills on to my Son very well, he once put one of those in the oven without opening it first.
The oven door never did shut properly after that:)
Pat
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>> Did this Mrs Baxter cause an accident? Was she seen driving erratically? No, she left
>> her car in an ambulance bay for 45 minutes being worried no doubt about the
>> state of her husband, a mistake perhaps. And some snivelling sneak in the hospital ratted
>> her up to the dour Orkney fuzz.
And there, probably is the crux of the matter, I can possibly picture the scene
"Could you move your car please, its blocking an important emergency access"
"HOW DARE YOU - DOnt you know who I am! I am Mrs Baxter, THE MRS BAXTER, my husband is dying in there and all you can do is witter on about my car, typical of you useless people, we would have gone private where they have parking spaces outside the door, except its an emergency - now go away"
Ring Ring " Is that the Police?"
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>> "HOW DARE YOU - DOnt you know who I am! I am Mrs Baxter, THE
>> MRS BAXTER, my husband is dying in there and all you can do is witter
>> on about my car, typical of you useless people, we would have gone private where
>> they have parking spaces outside the door, except its an emergency - now go away"
>>
>>
>> Ring Ring " Is that the Police?"
That was the scenario in my mind as well.
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>> Ring Ring " Is that the Police?"
>>That was the scenario in my mind as well.
Add me to that view.
Perhaps two glasses of wine were more than she was used to.:-)
This may have affected her reasoning.
She may well have avoided being shopped if she had parked properly once she had delivered her passenger and then later taken a taxi home.
Will she be watched over the next 12 months and will there be another "Ring Ring"?
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>> Ring Ring " Is that the Police?"
heh heh... of course that had occurred to me as well. And the husband's condition as described didn't sound too life-threatening.
But we are motorists after all.
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The SUN said she failed the
BROTH-ALYSER
Mind you she could now offer to become a director of the SHORTBREAD Company along the road.............WALKERS!!
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A Baxter now in the Soup - Runfer D'Hills
