IT took nine years for the law to catch up with drink-driver Jean James, magistrates in Manchester heard.
After being stopped in the city centre there was a mix up with her address, she told the court.
And the police only executed an arrest warrant last month, that was issued back in 1997, said prosecutor Sabrina Sohota.
James, now aged 64, of Balmoral Avenue, Whitefield, admitted driving with excess alcohol and was fined £50 and banned for 12 months.
Miss Sohota said James was pulled over in November 1996 for not displaying lights in the early hours of the morning.
A blood sample showed her to be 16 units over the limit, the magistrates heard.
In court James said all she could remember was being taken to the police station and that there had been a mistake over her address.
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