Driver's drink-drive charge quashed as her body 'acts as a brewery'

It is argued the woman suffers from 'Auto-Brewery Syndrome' Credit: PA

A woman accused of drink driving after being measured at more than four times the legal limit has successfully quashed the charge, claiming her body acts as a 'natural brewery'.

The woman told a court that she suffers from a rare intestinal disorder called Auto-Brewery Syndrome, which means her gut contains unusually high levels of yeast and can turn ordinary food and drink into alcohol within her own body.

According to the Buffalo News, the 35-year-old schoolteacher was stopped by Hamburg Town Police in western New York, USA, in October 2014. Officers measured her blood-alcohol content at 0.33 per cent - more than four times higher than the state's legal limit.

She claimed she had only had three small alcoholic drinks earlier in the day, which would have been unlikely to have pushed her above the legal limit.

Making investigations, her attorney Joeseph Marusak discovered a medical condition also known as 'gut fermentation syndrome'.

He said she regularly measured her own breathalyser results, and even went under a 12-hour observation by nurses and a doctor's assistant.

Throughout all tests, while not drinking, she regularly tested at above the state's legal limit of 0.08 per cent, and usually came out at 0.2 per cent or higher.

People with the condition essentially brew alcohol within their own bodies Credit: PA

Dr Anup Kanodia from Columbus, Ohio, has treated people for the syndrome.

He is currently working with five other lawyers across the US who are trying to have charges overturned for this reason, he added.

The officer who first stopped the woman, who has not been named, said her car had been "weaving all over" the road, and said she could not recite the alphabet nor stand on one foot, while she had “exhibited glassy-bloodshot eyes and slurred speech."

Hamburg Police Chief Gregory Wickett said his officers had made the right move in charging the woman with driving while intoxicated.

“She was highly intoxicated, as shown by the Breathalyser. Our officers did the right thing in getting her off the road,” he said.

“Whether she has a medical issue that caused it is not for me to decide.”

Prosecutors at the Erie County District Attorney’s office said they plan to appeal the decision.