SHAMELESS
Girls cheat jail over drink-drive smash – then head straight to pub
TWO teenage girls who were spared jail following a drinkdrive smash went straight to a pub after telling a court they were ‘ashamed’ of their actions.
Alesha Peers, 18 – who had no driving licence – got drunk on white wine before taking her mother’s Honda Civic to her local corner shop in Newton Heath so she could buy cigarettes with best friend Kaitlyn Morris, 19.
Just 500 yards down the road, Peers lost control of the car and ploughed into a parked vehicle shoving it into a garden wall on Surbiton Road.
The owner of the wrecked car came out of a house to find Peers slumped at the wheel of the Honda and Morris drunk in the passenger seat.
Police breath-tested Peers and found she was more than twice the drink-driving limit. Her mother knew nothing about the girls taking her car.
At Manchester magistrates court, Peers pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol, aggravated vehicle taking, driving without insurance and driving without a licence.
Morris pleaded guilty to being willingly carried in a vehicle taken without the owner’s consent.
Both walked free after their lawyer said they were ‘anxious and ashamed’ at what they had done and said their behaviour was ‘out of character.’
Peers and Morris were later seen leaving the Rising Sun pub in Manchester city centre before going to a nearby bar.
It is not known whether they drank alcohol at the bars. The court heard the incident happened last July 30 after the two girls had spent Sunday evening drinking with Peers’ mother. Prosecuting, Miss Eileen Rogers, said Peers was taken to a police station, where a breath test showed she had 85 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mg. In mitigation for both teenagers, defence lawyer Dominic Walker told the court: “They know that it was an idiotic thing to do getting in the vehicle. “It was out of character for both of them.
“Both of the girls realise the magnitude of their stupidity that day.
“They had been out with Alesha’s mother and they had been drinking, they took the car to go the short distance to the shops to get some cigarettes, and her mother knew nothing about that.
“This is the first time they have both come before the court and they are anxious for it not to ever happen again. They are both anxious and ashamed about it,” he added.
Peers was ordered to complete a 12-month community order plus 100 hours unpaid work and was banned from driving for 22 months.
Morris was ordered to be electronically tagged for two months between 7pm and 7am each night.
Both girls must pay £85 prosecution costs and £85 victim surcharge at the rate of £5 a month.
Both of the girls realise the magnitude of their stupidity that day Dominic Walker, defence lawyer