A MUM claimed she jumped in her car while over the drink-drive limit in a panic after being assaulted during a night out.

But prosecutor Charlotte Crane told Blackburn magistrates that while she could confirm that a man had been charged with assault, the report of the incident was received by police three hours before Carrie Howarth was stopped for drink-driving.

Howarth, 27, of Cravens Heath, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol.

She was fined £200 with £55 costs and banned from driving for 12 months.

Miss Crane said Howarth was stopped at 2.49am after police saw her go through a red light on Bolton Road in Blackburn.

She later gave a reading of 64 against the legal limit of 35.

Kevin Preston, defending, said Howarth had been out with a friend and had ended up in a nightclub in Whalley.

He added: "While she was in the club she was assaulted by a man who punched her in the face.

"She fell into a fruit machine and cracked two ribs.

"She was hysterical and the incident, together with the alcohol, clouded her judgement.

"Her prime concern was to get home to her husband."

Miss Crane said the report of an assault in Rendezvous nightclub, Whalley, was logged by police at 11.10pm.

She added: "You will appreciate she was stopped some time later."