Drink-drive care home boss blamed colleague for topping up her prosecco
A BUSINESSWOMAN caught at twice the drink- drive limit claimed her glass had been topped up with prosecco without her noticing during a night out with work colleagues.
Police stopped care home boss Rachel Hind, 46, when they saw her Audi A3 swerving on to the wrong side of the road after she left an Italian restaurant.
She struggled to get her keys out of the ignition and was staggering in her high heels, slurred her speech and smelt strongly of alcohol, a court heard.
However, she argued against a driving ban, saying workmates had topped up her glass of prosecco and given her double vodka and Coke in the belief she was getting a taxi home – all without her noticing. She also claimed she had been swerving across the road to avoid potholes, and was staggering because she wasn’t used to wearing heels.
But prosecutors said her claim her drinks were effectively spiked ‘doesn’t stack up’, and magistrates agreed – banning her from driving for 21 months and fining her £1,200.
The married mother of two had been on a night out to thank employees, treating 22 of them to dinner and an open bar over six hours at the restaurant in Urmston, Manchester, before heading to her £1.3million home near Knutsford, Cheshire.
She was stopped at 2.15am on June 23 because she was ‘swerving around’ so much police had to take evasive action in their patrol van. John Richards, prosecuting, told Manchester magistrates: ‘She was unsteady on her feet, her eyes were glazed and her speech was slurred. She was staggering and her breath stank of alcohol and she needed help into the police van.’
He said it would have been ‘patently obvious to her that she was over the limit’. He added: ‘ You might think it’s strange she didn’t realise her prosecco had been topped up.
‘In a short period of time, the glass goes from half full to full – how did she not realise that? ‘In terms of the vodka and cola, even if it was the case that you’re dealing with single shots, you’re going to know if it’s got alcohol in it. But we are talking about doubles here. The Crown says that it doesn’t stack up that she didn’t realise.’
Tests showed that Hind, a state-registered nurse who specialises in end-of-life care at her two homes – had 79 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.
Giving evidence in her nurse’s uniform, she told the court she took staff out for a meal four times a year ‘to say thank you’.
She said she occasionally got a Party time: Swigging from a bottle on a work night out taxi but normally drove, and was driving on the night as she was ‘on call’ at the care home in case of medical emergencies.
She added: ‘I always would have a gin and tonic and maybe a glass of prosecco if I was having a three-course meal.’
Hind said she had ‘about four to five glasses of Coke’ as well as a glass of prosecco with the main meal.
She told the court: ‘I didn’t feel drunk, I felt fine to drive. But the road was full of potholes. It did occur to me that I hope the police don’t think I am a drunk driver because I am swerving to avoid the potholes.
‘I struggled out of the police van, but I was wearing high heels and I don’t normally.’
Hind – who admitted drinkdriving – said a colleague later confessed to topping up her drinks and claimed she did not realise she was drinking vodka, saying: ‘It just tasted of cola.’
JP Edward Tasker said: ‘Having heard all the evidence, we don’t accept that the defendant didn’t know that the drinks didn’t have alcohol in them.’
‘Glass goes from half-full to full’