An uninsured driver from West Denton, Tyne and Wear, has been handed a suspended sentence after she drove at 52mph in a 30mph zone while drink driving, leading to her ploughing into a stone wall with her passenger suffering a broken pelvis.
Prosecuting, Rebecca Slade told the court the incident took place on March 26 this year.
“The defendant had lost control of her vehicle and collided with a stone wall,” Miss Slade added.
“There was extensive damage to her Skoda and the wall. The wall then collapsed on a parked, unattended Audi.
“Witnesses stated that the defendant was driving in a dangerous manner. She was doing 52mph in a 30 zone.
“There were injuries caused to the passenger, who suffered a broken pelvis, and she was under the influence of alcohol.”
A blood sample taken in hospital following the accident revealed the woman to have 149mg alcohol per 100ml blood – almost twice the legal drink driving limit of 80mg.
Ms Slade also informed the court that the defendant had neither a valid driving licence nor insurance.
“This incident involved excessive speed on a busy road. There were also aggravating features, such as having alcohol in her system and causing injury,” the prosecutor added.
Defending, Judith Curry said her client had been at a friend’s house with her three children, drinking gin and tequila. It was decided they needed more alcohol.
“They wanted more vodka and there was a suggestion she should go in her friend’s car because, at the time, she didn’t feel as though she was under the influence.
“She’d had three gin and three tequila drinks. It was a mistake that she deeply regrets. She had overtaken a car and the passenger said ‘turn here’ and grabbed the steering wheel.”
Ms Curry also pointed out that while her ten-year-old son was in the car, he was uninjured in the accident.
District Judge Paul Currer told the woman on sentencing: “It was an absolutely appalling decision to drive.
“You didn’t have a driving licence, you had no insurance, you had been drinking and you had your 10-year-old son in the back of the car.
“You think you would have been concerned about driving safely but you were driving in an erratic manner overtaking people.
“It’s my judgement that you were going too fast because you lost control when at a bend and that had pretty catastrophic consequences, which could have been a lot worse had an innocent bystander been in your path when you lost control.”
In addition to the suspended sentence, after hearing a guilty plea to drink driving Judge Currer banned the woman from driving for 30 months and ordered her to undertake 90 days of alcohol abstinence monitoring.
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