Drink-driver smashed car on first night out after lockdown

Woman had passenger as she crashed in underpass

A NANDO’S manager smashed her car into the side of an underpass after drinking on her first night out after lockdown.

Ella Small, 27, was driving her Mini “at speed” along Oxford Street, in Leicester city centre, with a colleague.

As she entered the Southgates underpass, she turned too hard, smashed through the central reservation and hit the wall on the opposite side.

Leicester Magistrates’ Court heard the Mini One was a write- off but Small and her passenger managed to escape serious injury.

The police took Small to hospital for a check-up, which meant she was not given a breath test until three hours after the crash, at 11pm on Monday, July 6.

At about 2am the next day she gave a reading of 70 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath - exactly twice the drink-driving limit.

Stacey Mills, prosecuting, said: “The defendant was driving her black Mini and with her she had a male colleague.

“They were travelling along Oxford Street at speed.

“In the underpass the car went through the barrier of the central reservation, crashing into the wall on the opposite side. She was able to walk to the ambulance and was taken by police to hospital to be checked over.

“There are aggravating factors – there was an accident, there was a passenger in the vehicle and the intoxication test procedure took place three hours after the incident.”

Ms Mills showed the court photographs of the damage caused in the crash.

Rebecca Barrowcliffe, representing Small, said her client was remorseful and aware of how bad the consequences of the crash could have been.

She said: “She is an assistant manager at Nando’s and also cares for a client who was paralysed in a car accident so she is shocked by her actions.

“On a daily basis she is reminded of the potential consequences of her actions.

“She understands how she would feel if she or any member of her family were the victim of a drink-driver.”

Ms Barrowcliffe said Small, of Sibson Road, Birstall, had misjudged how much she needed to turn the steering wheel while going through the underpass because of the amount of alcohol she had consumed.

She said: “She had been living alone and hadn’t seen anyone socially for some time and this, unfortunately, led to her having a few more drinks than she should. She makes full admissions and takes full responsibility for her actions that night.”

The chairman of the bench, Christopher Thompson, told Small: “Drinkdriving is made worse when you are carrying a passenger and worse still when you have a serious accident, as you did.”

However, he said he balanced that against Small’s remorse and the fact she had no previous convictions.

She was banned from driving for 21 months and ordered to pay a £435 fine, a £44 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.”

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