Drink-drive Gogglebox researcher jumped into loch to flee rescuers – after being released from prison over stalking conviction
- Rachel Barnes swam across loch after causing near miss on A9 near Pitlochry
A drink-driver stripped off and swam across a loch as medics and a kayaker mounted a rescue operation, a court heard.
Rachel Barnes, 29, had recently been released from prison after being jailed for stalking a man.
The former Gogglebox researcher caused a near miss on the A9 near Pitlochry, Perthshire, and initially fell into Loch Faskally as she ran from paramedics at the scene on September 5.
Former Gogglebox researcher Rachel Barnes caused a near miss on the A9
Brother and sister duo Pete and Sophie Sandiford of TV hit Gogglebox
At Perth Sheriff Court yesterday she admitted driving while more than three times the alcohol limit.
Sheriff Jennifer Bain, KC, banned her from the road for three years and ordered her to carry out 135 hours of unpaid work.
The sheriff told her: ‘The underlying factors here are in relation to your dependency on alcohol.’
Barnes, from Lambeth, London, approached a junction in her Audi A3 without slowing down or giving way.
Another vehicle swerved to avoid her and she came to a halt.
A passing ambulance stopped and paramedics noticed Barnes was heavily intoxicated.
She ran away and fell into Loch Faskally but then climbed out, took off most of her clothes and jumped back in.
Police and fire crews attended as Barnes swam 600ft and struggled to stay afloat. A kayaker threw her a life jacket and she returned to shore.
She was taken to police headquarters where a breathalyser test found her to be over the legal alcohol limit.
Last year Barnes was jailed for 18 months after stalking a police officer she had met on a dating site for casual sex.
She began a three-month surveillance operation on Wiltshire-based PC William Saunders and his new girlfriend, Catherine Baird, in January 2021.
Swindon Magistrates Court heard phone records showed Barnes’s mobile ‘pinged’ Ms Baird’s home on more than 400 occasions.
She admitted two counts of stalking and one count of stalking causing serious alarm or distress.
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