Caprice admits drink-drive charge

Caprice was said to be on medication

Model Caprice has pleaded guilty to drink-driving in central London.

The 34-year-old, whose full name is Caprice Bourret, of Camden, north London, admitted driving a Mercedes while over the legal alcohol limit.

She was stopped by officers after leaving a drinks party on 10 December last year, the court heard.

Caprice's lawyer told Highbury magistrates the positive test was due to medication she was taking. She could now face a mandatory driving ban.

Solicitor Nick Freeman said she was taking Cipro, an antibiotic to treat cystitis, an infection of the bladder.

I got to the party and one of my girlfriend's friends gave me a glass of red wine and they kept topping it up Caprice Bourret

"If she had not taken that, she would not be before the court for drink-driving," he said.

Ms Bourret told the court she had drunk a bottle and a half of red wine with a salad during a lunch in Soho.

That evening she was invited to a drinks party.

"I got to the party and one of my girlfriend's friends gave me a glass of red wine and they kept topping it up."

She said she was unsure how much she had drunk when she left at 0345 GMT, after several hours at the party.

Clean licences

It was as she dropped off a friend in Tottenham Court Road that she was stopped and breathalysed by officers.

She tested positive at the scene with a later reading showing she had 52 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

She told the court: "I was scared and crying. I have never been put into these sorts of circumstances."

Ms Bourret who holds clean English and American driving licences, said she had not thought it pertinent to tell the custody officer she was on medication.

"It was a very unique situation I was in and I knew if I told them the whole of England would know," she said.

The hearing continues.