A young woman was this morning banned from the road for drinking and driving, while one of her passengers admitted assaulting officers.

Sheba Grant, 20, from Pembroke, pleaded guilty to a count of driving while impaired while Zaire Bean, 21, from Devonshire, admitted two counts of assaulting police, one count of obstructing officers and one count of violently resisting arrest.

Another passenger in the vehicle, 26-year-old Kwonde Lathan, from Pembroke, admitted a single count of obstructing officers.

All of the charges related to a single incident, which took place on Saturday.

According to prosecutors, at around 3.20am officers were on duty in Hamilton when they saw a green car travelling east along Front Street. As they watched, the car nearly struck a group of pedestrians crossing the street near the junction with Parliament Street.

Police followed the car onto Till’s Hill, where they watched the car perform a U-turn before parking on Court Street. At that time they noticed Grant, who was driving the car, holding a phone to her ear.

The officers approached Grant but prosecutors said she repeatedly refused to give the officers her name. Lathan, one of the passengers in the car, then approached the officers, urging them not to arrest her, grabbing an officer’s hand in the process.

Bean, who had also been a passenger, then became involved, striking one of the officers in the face, spitting at another and shouting profanities. Additional officers later arrived on the scene and the situation was brought under control.

The court heard that as officer began walking Grant to a police car, they noticed that she appeared unsteady on her feet and smelled of alcohol.

She later provided officers with a sample of breath, which revealed a reading of 96mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood — above the legal limit of 80mg.

Addressing the court, Grant said that she answered the phone only after stopping the car, explaining that a friend had called to tell her the police were coming for her.

She also said that she had not refused to give her name, but was instead questioning police about what she was charged with.

Lathan meanwhile said he became involved only to try to convince Grant to give the officers her name, and then stepped away.

Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo banned Grant from driving all vehicles for 18 months, fining her $500 for driving while impaired. Meanwhile he ordered a pre-sentencing Social Inquiry Report on Bean, releasing her on bail until it is completed.

Mr Tokunbo discharged the information against Lathan, noting what he had told the court, but warned him: “Don’t get caught up again. Don’t come back again.”

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