Drunk mother crashed with her baby in car

A CARE ASSISTANT crashed her car while drinking a can of beer as her one-yearold child sat in the back, a court heard.

Judge David McHugh told gardaí in court to ‘take her down’ after sentencing the woman to a month in prison which he said she ‘thoroughly deserves’.

Sergeant Maria Callaghan told Blanchardstown District Court that at 3.30pm on June 24, gardaí responded to a report that a car was crashed in the bus lane on the Nangor Road in west Dublin.

Sergeant Callaghan said gardaí found a woman slumped over the steering wheel with an open can of beer in her hand.

She said the woman was slurring her words and that there was a one-year-old sitting in the back of the car who was distressed, crying and sweating.

The 34-year-old was taken to Clondalkin Garda station where she supplied a blood sample showing her to be more than four times over the drink-drive limit.

The woman, who has an address in Dublin and cannot be identified for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to drink driving and to being drunk in charge of a child. She has no previous convictions.

The woman’s defence lawyer, Valerie Buckley, said her client is a single mother and works as a care assistant in a Dublin hospital.

She said that on the date in question, her client had worked six 12-hour night shifts in a row and she was going to a birthday party. Ms Buckley said her client had some beer the night before and had drunk some beer before driving.

She said that if the woman was convicted of being drunk in charge of a child, that she would lose her job.

Ms Buckley said she had a number of references on behalf of her client and added that Tusla had carried out an investigation and deemed that no further action was necessary.

She stressed that the incident was a oneoff mistake.

Judge McHugh said he was satisfied there had been an appalling breach of trust and sentenced her to 28 days’ imprisonment.

He also fined the woman €200 and gave her a three-year road ban.