Drink-drive mum was three times the limit with her daughters in car
WOMAN HAD GLASS OF WINE MORNING AFTER DRINKING VODKA
A MUM was caught driving her two kids home from a family festival while she was more than three times the drink-drive limit.
Laura Roberts, 36, drank a glass of wine in the morning before she got behind the wheel and had drunk toffee flavoured vodka the previous night, a court heard.
Roberts appeared at Stockport Magistrates’ Court where she pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence of alcohol.
The bench heard how the mum, from Wigan, had taken her two youngster to the Geronimo Festival at Arley Hall in Cheshire as a treat.
During the last night of the festival on May 27, she drank toffee flavoured vodka and then had a glass of wine the next morning, the court heard.
Thinking she was exhausted as a result of sunburn, rather than drunk, she put her kids into her Ford car and drove home.
But when a witness saw Roberts swaying in the road, she overtook and pulled in front of the car, and Roberts drove into the back of her – luckily resulting in no injuries.
Roberts was made to do a breathalyser test which came back with two different readings.
She was then tested for alcohol in her blood and the result came back to reveal that she was more than three times the legal limit.
Prosecuting, Steve Woodman, said: “In an interview, she (Roberts) said she had been drinking. She had been at a festival with her children and the previous day she had been drinking toffee flavoured vodka.
“She said she then woke up in the morning and had a glass of wine. She then left the festival at two in the afternoon.
“After the accident, she said that she was beginning to feel the wine that she had earlier that day. Her children were in the car at the time.”
Defending, Maria Brannon said: “She is of good character, with no previous convictions, and has been driving for 19 years with no endorsements.
“She has two daughters who are two and four years of age, and she is well regarded in her job working in administration at Wigan council.
“A combination of the alcohol from the night before and the sunburn made her feel ill when she was driving home.
“Ms Roberts bitterly regrets her decision to drive with the children in the back of her car.”
Roberts was given a 12-month community order with 100 hours of unpaid work.
She was also banned from driving for two years.