Woman, 23, loses job with second driving ban

A WOMAN has been banned from the road for three years after driving while under the influence for the second time.

Melissa Horswood, of Ashford Court in Kirkburton, pleaded guilty to drink-driving when she appeared at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court.

Magistrates heard that the 23-year-old was stopped by police as she drove her black BMW along Alder Street in Fartown at 5am on May 20.

Police pulled her over due to the poor standard of her driving after she ran a red light and failed to indicate as she turned onto the street.

Vanessa Jones, prosecuting, explained that as the officers spoke with Horswood they noticed alcohol on her breath.

She claimed that she’d not had a drink since 1.30am but police station breath tests showed that she had 49 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Horswood had a previous conviction of driving while under the influence of drugs dating back to April 2013 when she was banned from driving for two years.

Magistrates heard that Horswood had since lost her job as an installations site manager because the role requires a full driving licence.

They told her that she should have learned from her first conviction and refused to offer her the drink-driving awareness course which would have reduced the term of her driving ban.

She was banned from driving for three years and ordered to pay a £120 fine, £85 costs and £30 victim surcharge.