A woman who spiked the drink of a Workington pub landlady and then reported her to police as she drove home has appeared in court.
Julie Horrigan, 54, was at Vinnie’s, on Finkle Street, on July 3 2023.
Carlisle Crown Court heard the licence holder — who viewed Horrigan as a close friend — had finished her shift that evening and was having a drink which she knew would keep her under the legal driving limit.
Horrigan made an initial phone call to police, warning that the licensee was about to commit an offence.
She then secretly spiked the woman’s drink with a double shot of vodka, gave her a hug as she left the premises, and called police again to report that she was travelling home and provided her route.
Prosecutor Tim Evans said a police officer stopped the woman and conducted a breath test which showed she was exactly on — but not over — the drink-drive limit.
Horrigan was caught committing the spiking crime on CCTV, which the licensee later viewed.
In a victim impact statement, she said: “In effect this one double vodka being added to my drink could have absolutely destroyed my life. When I viewed CCTV I was sickened by the fact a friend had done this to me.”
Horrigan was prosecuted, brought to court and admitted a charge of maliciously administering a substance with intent to injure, aggrieve or annoy.
Marion Weir, mitigating, called Horrigan’s offence completely out of character and bizarre in the extreme.
“She expresses her extreme embarrassment and what I would submit is genuine remorse for what took place that day,” said Miss Weir.
Horrigan, of Clay Street, Workington, had been using alcohol as a coping mechanism following the death of her long-standing partner some months before the offence.
Recorder Kate Bex KC considered detailed information about Horrigan’s personal issues, family circumstances and positive references. In light of mitigation and her guilty plea, the judge concluded that custody was not necessary.
But she told Horrigan: “This was premeditated, well thought out and it was a shocking breach of trust.”
Recorder Bex added: “If that spiking of that drink had impaired her ability to drive, she could have killed somebody. She could have killed a child; somebody else’s child.”
Horrigan was handed a 24-month community order. She must complete a mental health treatment requirement, rehabilitation work and given a 120-day alcohol ban which will be monitored with a tag.
