A Paisley woman who drove her car at her boyfriend and ran over him in a drunken rage after he tried to stop her from drink-driving has been spared jail.

Nicola Cummings, 28, formerly of Paisley, rammed her black Peugeot 206 into Christopher Lazzerini after the doting boyfriend tried to keep her safe.

She then took off at speed with the 27-year-old clutching on to the bonnet of the coupé but he managed to emerge unscathed after falling off the bonnet and landing on his feet.

She was expecting to be jailed over the August 19, 2015 incident, and took two large bags of her belongings with her to court.

A clearly nervous Cummings fidgeted with her hair as she waited to learn her fate.

But she need not have worried - as she was placed on a Community Payback Order and given a five-year road ban when she appeared at Greenock Sheriff Court on Thursday.

The shocking events, which took place in the car park of the Tail O’ The Bank pub in Greenock, were captured on CCTV.

Footage of Cummings trying to mow Lazzerini down at around 11.30pm on the day in question shows him clutching on to the bonnet of the coupe while she accelerates.

The footage was screened at Greenock Sheriff Court last month when Cummings pleaded guilty to three charges.

She admitted culpable and reckless conduct by knocking Lazzerini down, behaving in a threatening or abusive way by shouting, swearing and threatening Lazzerini with violence, struggling with police and failing to provide a breath specimen.

The two-minute clip shows Cummings running to her car as Lazzerini, a couple of seconds behind her, gives chase.

She gets behind the wheel of her car and locks the door so Lazzerini is unable to get in to the vehicle.

Cummings then reverses out of the space as Lazzerini runs into the middle of the roadway ahead of her to try and stop her from driving.

But Cummings is unmoved by his presence - and accelerated directly towards him.

The court heard that Cummings and Lazzerini had been drinking together on the day in question and fell out when he tried to stop her from drink-driving.

She ran him over and drove off but he caught up with her a short distance along the road and they began arguing again.

Officers saw her shouting and swearing in the street and arrested her.

And it was only once she had been arrested that officers discovered she had knocked Lazzerini down.

She was “heavily intoxicated” at the time and refused to provide a breath sample - leaving police unable to work out how much alcohol she had in her system.

Sentence was deferred so Cummings could be assessed by social workers and she returned to the dock on Thursday today/yesterday (THURS) to be sentenced.

Defence solicitor Kirsty McGeehan asked for leniency for her client, saying she was single after splitting from Lazzerini and is currently doing a course at college.

She asked for Cummings, a former boss with Aldi who lost her job as a result of this and other court cases, to be given a Community Payback Order.

The lawyer said the relationship with Lazzerini was “doomed from the start” and was “toxic” due to their high alcohol use, adding: “She accepts her actions and behaviour were reckless."

“She has now turned her life around and is meeting her problems head on.

“I would submit that the wider public interest would be served by way of a Community Payback Order.”

Sheriff Derek Hamilton had previously warned Cummings she faced jail over the incident but, following Mrs McGeehan’s compassionate plea in mitigation, he spared her client a stint behind bars.

As he did so, the sheriff He said: “This is not your first brush with the law and days after this incident you went out and committed a similar crime with no regard for anyone than yourself.

“On your last appearance I was considering a custodial sentence due to the nature of the charges but the report couldn’t be more positive on your behalf - you seem to be on the right path.

“I have to balance the report and the public interest and I feel this is best served by way of a Community Payback Order.”

Cummings, who is originally from Paisley, was staying in Greenock’s Kincaid Court at the time of the offence.

, smiled and thanked the court as she learned she was being spared prison.

She was told she will be supervised by social workers for the next 18 months, has to carry out 150 hours’ unpaid work and was given a six-month curfew to stay in her house at night to keep her out of trouble.

The curfew allows her to attend college on Monday and Tuesdays.