Reality star tells court her collagen lip implants prevented her from blowing into breathalyser

A reality TV personality who failed a roadside breath test told police her surgically enhanced lips were too big for her to blow into a breathalyser.

Scarlett Harrison was found to be over the alcohol limit when she was stopped by officers for driving around Manchester city centre after drinking pink gins.

But when she was asked to give a breath sample back at a police station the 20-year-old - who appeared in the MTV's show Ex On The Beach - complained her collagen implants made it too "difficult" for her to get her mouth around the tube.

She attempted four times to blow into the machine before telling officers, "my lips are too big," leading to her being charged with failing to provide a breath sample.

At Manchester Magistrates' Court, Harrison initially pleaded not guilty to the charge claiming she was unable to give a breath sample for "medical reasons."

But on the day of her trial she changed her plea to guilty and was banned from the roads for 16 months. She has since sold her white Mini One.

The court heard how Harrison, who lives at their family's luxury home in Bramhall, Cheshire, was pulled over near Piccadilly station on June 20 after she had a row with a male friend she had been drinking with.

Prosecutor Neil White said: "Police saw the defendant parked up by the taxi rank late at night and were wondering what was going on.

"When the officers went over to speak to her, they could smell alcohol on her breath and so conducted a roadside breath test.

"She was over the limit so she was taken to the police station."

The court heard how Harrison became "anxious and nervous" when officers asked her why she couldn't provide a sample, which is when she blamed the size of her lips.  

Mr White added: "They asked if she had any medical conditions or health conditions that could stop her doing so and she said: 'No, just my lips'.

"This has since been clarified and she was not able to give enough medical evidence, and it was as simple as that."

In mitigation, Harrison's defence lawyer Matthew Wallace said his client admitted drinking "a couple of pink gins" before the argument. 

He told to the court the man "disappeared" in the city centre and that Harrison got in the car to look for him. 

"She pulled up in the taxi rank, which she did not appreciate was a problem at the time," he said. "She did blow a positive road side sample and there were four further attempts made at the police station.

"She is somebody who has suffered with anxiety in the past, this is clear on her medical records. Along with the current trend, she has collagen implants in her lips which is something that caused her due difficulty in forming a seal around the tube.

"She was also attacked a number of months ago by a person, and one side of her lip was damaged and has scar tissue which provided her further difficulty. When she was in the intoximeter room, they told her she needed to blow into the machine and she was feeling they were very abrupt.

"Of course it is their professional duty and she had to blow into the machine, however she became anxious and she did try to give a sample.

"It was recorded as a failure. It can be either marked as a failure or refusal - but this says nothing about a deliberate refusal. She was trying to provide a sample."

Manchester magistrates heard how Harrison lives at home with her parents, and is currently unemployed having arrived back in Britain from working abroad in Ibiza. 

She has secured a job at a local restaurant, but the business has yet to open its doors. 

Harrison was fined £160 plus £150 in court costs. She was offered a place on a drink driver rehabilitation course.