Woman took date's BMW after one night stand to avoid 'walk of shame'
Natalie Kopman was arrested by police after she drunkenly sneaked off in her date's BMW as he slept in a bid to dodge a 'walk of shame'
A party loving brunette who had a one night stand was arrested by police
after she drunkenly sneaked off in his BMW as he slept in a bid to dodge a "walk of shame."
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Natalie Kopman, 31, had made a plan to get home near the town Bury near Manchester before dawn - but ended up in Burnley instead with two complete strangers in the back of the stolen car.
The 31-year old was also found to be almost three times the drink
driving limit when police stopped her on a petrol station forecourt when
her date Alan Shaw woke up and reported his car missing.
It emerged Kopman had woken up at 4am at the home of Mr Shaw 30 miles
away in Stockport and decided she "didn't want to be where she had woken
up" then borrowed his car as he slept.
She offered a lift to the two strangers when she met then after driving
into Manchester city center. The incident occurred after Kopman had
gone off sick from work after falling out of a tree during another
drinking binge.
Details emerged at Burnley magistrates court when Kopman, now of Chorley, Lancashire, pleaded guilty to taking a vehicle without consent, drink driving and having no insurance. She was given an eight-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and disqualified from driving for two years. She was also ordered to pay £165 costs.
She and Mr Shaw had met in Joe's Bar in Manchester's trendy Northern Quarter on January 24 last year and hit it off so well that they went back to his flat. They spent the following day drinking again before falling asleep.
But at around 4am Kopman woke up, took the keys to his BMW from the sofa - choosing not to ask permission because "he would have declined" - crept out of the flat and drove towards Manchester city center.
There, she picked up two passengers who asked to be taken to Burnley, Lancashire and obliged, despite the potential for "absolute disaster", the court was told. Police were alerted to the vehicle following Mr Shaw's bemused call for help and Kopman was apprehended in the forecourt of a service station on Rossendale Road in Burnley.
Police who Breathalyzer her at the scene took a reading of 65 over the legal limit.
When she sobered up, Kopman said Mr Shaw was a nice man who 'didn't deserve to be messed around'. She admitted to police: "It must have been a big shock for him to wake up and see his car was taken and he must have thought he wasn't getting it back."
Prosecuting, Tracy Yates said: "After spending the day together drinking and that evening, she got up in the early hours and decided to go back to Manchester. She saw the keys on the sofa and said that if she asked he would have declined, so sneaked out of the premises in possession of the keys and drove back to Manchester before meeting two other people and subsequently driving from Manchester to Burnley.
"She is adamant she would have returned the car and had no intention to permanently deprive him of it. She acknowledges it was only a matter of luck that she and other members of the public remained unscathed."
In mitigation, defense lawyer Ellen Vaughan said Kopman was not the same person sober as she is drunk, and had not touched alcohol since the incident. She stressed that Kopman mustn't have wanted to keep the car, as she left her purse and handbag at Mr Shaw's flat.
"It might be that the court is surprised when they see Miss Kopman having anticipated what the case is about," she said. "I was when I met her.
"This incident here is symptomatic of where she had unraveled. Clearly the use of alcohol puts other people at risk and her at risk.
"She got incredibly drunk in Manchester, went back to a virtual stranger's house, ended up spending the night and the following day in a drunken haze ... and woke up in the small hours and thought, 'I will borrow his car'.
"There is no nefarious reason for her to take the car other than she didn't want to be where she had woken up. She more or less certainly would not have behaved this way had she been sober.
"When sober she is a bright, intelligent, articulate young woman who could make plenty of her life.
"Last year while in drink she climb need a tree and fell out breaking vertebrae in her back. But she is optimistic she will return to work.
"Now she is sober she recognizes what she did is quite chilling. She is well brought up from a good family with a good education and she is making a mess of it."
Sentencing Kopman JP Lynn Kemp added: "It is hard to reconcile what we have heard with what we see before us. You had passengers in the vehicle and a considerable distance was driven before you were picked up and arrested.
"There is nothing on the mitigating side. There was potential for absolute disaster during that drive to yourself and others. This might be the big wake-up call you need."
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