Drunk teenager tried to swap seats after crashing Ford Fiesta on way home from pub

A teenage girl who ploughed her car into a fence after leaving a pub tried to swap seats with her passenger in a bid to dodge the blame, a court heard.

Molly Pickering, from Stalybridge, had been drinking with friends in a local pub on the evening of January 21 this year. The 18-year-old had driven there with the intention of leaving her car, the court heard.

But she 'made the poor decision to drive' following 'peer pressure' from friends and smashed her Ford Fiesta into a fence on the way home. Paramedics who were called to the scene of the incident - which happened at around 2am - spotted her switching seats with her female passenger.

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Pickering was taken into police custody and asked to provide a breath sample after being identified as the driver. The apprentice painter and decorator refused, questioning why she would need to.

At Tameside Magistrates' Court, Gareth Hughes, prosecuting, said: "It was around 2am on January 21 and police officers on patrol came across an ambulance stationary with its emergency equipment activated. They stopped and checked the situation and were told by the paramedics that they had seen the vehicle collide with a metal fence.

"After speaking to the two females present in the vehicle, the paramedics told them they had seen the females switch seats after they arrived. At that point both females were arrested."

He added: "Miss Pickering was in the passenger seat when police arrived but there was the information that they had switched seats. They arrested her on suspicion of driving a vehicle while unfit through drink or drugs.

"At the police station the breath testing procedure commenced but the defendant failed to