A suspended doctor blamed the heartbreak of her husband’s cancer and the stress of a dispute with her fellow GPs in Keighley for her state of mind when she impaled her car on a stone wall.

Dr Jane Hornsey was found guilty of drink-driving in Kilnsey, near Skipton, on October 18, 2009, by town magistrates, yesterday.

The mother of four, 53, of Millers House, Arncliffe, near Skipton failed to convince the Bench she was sober when she hit the wall and had drunk a half-bottle of vodka before the police arrived.

A breath test revealed she had 93 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – the limit is 35.

The Bench accepted prosecutor Helen Hogben’s argument that Dr Hornsey was already drunk when she hit the wall near the Confluence Centre outside the village.

“I was in a depressed state of mind and decided to drink some of the vodka. It was a stupid thing to do and I’ve regretted it ever since,” said Dr Hornsey, who denied attempting to move her Peugeot.

Her lawyer, Simon Broad, said Dr Hornsey would be going before the General Medical Council in July and she was hoping she could continue to work as a GP.

“At the time of this incident, Dr Hornsey was in an emotional crisis, her husband was suffering bowel cancer – he died eight weeks later – and she had a depressive illness,” he said.

The Bench agreed to his request not to impose an interim driving ban and said they were considering a low-level community service sentence. The prosecution asked for £1,000 costs and £500 compensation.