Drunk’s chip off old block

A DRUNK Monique Felsman was driven to a takeaway bar on Good Friday for a feed of fish and chips after a session on the “sauce”.

She left with a huge chip on her shoulder.

What happened? Here’s the scoop.

Felsman was charged with drunkenly slamming a car into a Broadbeach fast-food outlet after she jumped into the driver’s side to turn on the radio.

The Southport Magistrates Court yesterday heard she was “fumbling with the gears” when the Subaru wagon drove into the store at Rio Vista Blvd about 11.30am, with six people inside.

Felsman — who had a blood alcohol percentage of .250, five times the legal limit — was sentenced to six months jail for driving under the influence but released on parole.

Felsman, who the court heard previously struggled with alcohol addiction, had been “pressured” into drinking by a friend on the day of the incident.

The court heard she had previously been disqualified from driving but had not renewed her licence.

Defence lawyer Mark Williams said the 51-year-old had not driven to the store but was simply “a passenger” who then sat to eat fish and chips.

He said the car “lunged forward” after a bungle with the gears.

Mr Williams told the court Felsman had abstained from alcohol for months even before the Good Friday incident and had completed several courses since being charged.

The court heard the fact she had been behind the wheel at the time the car rolled into the store meant she was legally the “driver” of the car.

In sentencing, Magistrate Joan White took into consideration the “unusual circumstances” and the woman’s “traumatic upbringing”, which was not mentioned in open court.

“While you did have a high reading, you didn’t drive there. You were trying to do something when the car, that wasn’t yours, backfired ... technically you were driving,” she said.

Felsman was also sentenced to one-month jail for driving without a licence, which will be served concurrently to the other sentence.

She is banned from driving for 18 months.