Drinkin', Drivin', D'Arithmetic

A time out for a British lass:

A 14-YEAR-OLD was locked up yesterday for drink-driving - just over a year after she was convicted of a similar offence.

Leanne Black, believed to have been Britain's youngest-ever drink-driver when she was 12, lashed out in court as her sentence was passed.

She punched the prosecutor, Lesley Gilmore, in the back, kicking over a chair and hurling a jug of water at the three magistrates on the bench at Newbury Youth Court in Berkshire.

....on the night of 13-14 February, Black drank three cans of lager, then took her father's car keys and drove off in his car - a similar scenario to her previous drink-driving offence, committed on Christmas Day 2004.

....At court yesterday, Black assured the justices that she had mended her ways, with the help of a supervision order imposed last summer for additional offences of an anti-social nature.

But moments later she was involved in a violent outburst as sentence was passed.

Mrs Bates imposed an eight-month detention and training order, and banned Black from driving for a further three years.

But as the teenager was being told that she would be spending half of the term in secure accommodation, she erupted, giving the court a taste of what police had been subjected to on 14 February.

....Earlier, when they arrived at the court, Black and members of her family had thrown eggs and hurled insults at members of the press.

As Black was led to a waiting van, members of her family continued to cause unpleasant scenes outside the court, with one photographer being punched in the head.