Drink-driving doctor spared jail after study stress made her turn to alcohol
A JUNIOR doctor twice caught drink- driving escaped jail after a court was told she became addicted to alcohol to help her cope with the stress of studying.
Dr Lauren Fowler, 25, who did her medical degree at Imperial College London, wept after being warned that her offences ‘crossed the threshold’ for prison.
The court heard she was arrested for being over the drink-drive limit twice in less than two months last year.
But she was allowed to walk free after magistrates heard she had given up drinking, was seeing an addiction counsellor and had sold her car in an attempt to get her life back on track.
She had also reported herself to the medical watchdog and realised she had put her career in jeopardy before it had really begun, her lawyer said.
Stockport magistrates’ court was told Fowler, a former prefect and A-grade student at £ 11,400- a- year Stockport Grammar School, had attended her university graduation ceremony days before the first offence in October.
Joseph O’Connor, prosecuting, said she had gone out for lunch with friends in Manchester, where she drank a bottle of white wine, then got in her car and drove to an off-licence for another bottle.
She downed the second bottle in the driver’s seat and police were called when she crashed her Ford Ka in an area Jail threat: Dr Fowler, 25 busy with pedestrians. Mr O’Connor said that when police arrived Fowler ‘ was clearly intoxicated – she was swearing and slurring, and officers could smell intoxicants on her breath’.
He added: ‘They had trouble understanding what she was saying – she was incoherent. She admitted she had drunk two bottles of wine and taken to the police station.
‘She was described as acting very emotional and failed to provide a specimen of breath because she was so upset.’
Fowler was bailed but was stopped again in December after drinking half a bottle of vodka before heading off to the gym and crashing into a vehicle in a car park near her family’s £1.5million home in Styal, near Wilmslow, Cheshire.
Tests showed she had 112 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – more than three times the legal limit of 35mcg.
Fowler admitted drink-driving and failing to provide a breath specimen after her first arrest.
A probation statement read out in court said: ‘She drank at university to cope with the stress and she didn’t know who to go to for help with her addiction.
‘She was swearing and slurring’
She admits this is a massive wake-up call for her.’
Fowler was sentenced to eight weeks in prison suspended for a year, ordered to complete 40 hours of unpaid work and banned from driving for three years. She also has to pay £200 court costs.
Martin Drake, chairman of the bench, said: ‘If you commit any offence during the next 12 months another judge has the right to activate that sentence and can send you to custody.’
Fowler’s lawyer Helen Turner said her client has a ‘ very stressful lifestyle’, working 48 hours a week and volunteering at the weekend.
She added Fowler had been ‘completely transparent’ and faces an investigation by the General Medical Council after reporting herself.