Low reading for high drinking yet cops penalty

A MOTHER of three who told police she had drunk three bottles of wine the night before had blown a breath/alcohol reading of just 0.027.

However, because she was unlicensed Amanda Lee Smidlers was subject to a zero alcohol level and so was booked for drink-driving on Donation Lane about 10.55am, March 16.

Checks of her driver’s licence found she had been disqualified from driving for two years by the court on January 6, Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard.

The 44-year-old who pleaded guilty told police she knew she shouldn’t have been driving but she was a disability support worker and was driving a client to the bank, police prosecutor Rowan Brewster-Webb told the court.

She also told police she had drunk three bottles of wine the night before, he said.

Duty solicitor Nathan Bouchier, of Bouchier Khan Lawyers, told the court his client had been going through a crisis period in her life after separating from her husband of 16 years.

His client had descended into depression and anxiety which had led to drinking alcohol, he said.

She knew what she did was wrong but she had wanted to keep working and support her children, he said.

His client was now medicated for her depression, had stopped drinking and had relocated to Gatton where she was in a new relationship, Mr Bouchier submitted.

Magistrate Howard Osborne placed Smidlers on nine months probation and disqualified her from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for two years and nine months.