Crash driver was three times over limit
AWOMAN involved in an early evening road collision was almost three times the drink driving limit, a court has heard.
Lisa Jane Boyle, of Bluebell Way, Huncoat, was driving her Fiat Punto on Dill Hall Lane, Accrington at around 7pm on Easter Saturday, April 20 when she was involved in a collision.
Prosecutor Alex Mann told Blackburn Magistrates Court that nearby residents on Dill Hall Lane heard a loud bang outside their homes and when they went out to investigate they found Boyle, 48, in her vehicle.
Miss Mann said: “The residents were concerned for her welfare and made
sure she was unharmed.
“One was alarmed that she may have consumed alcohol and the police were called.
“After she was arrested she was very upset but cooperative with officers at the police station.”
The court heard that the lowest reading taken by police was 102 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, almost three times the limit of 35 microgrammes.
Boyle, who is a mother of two, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol.
Defending her, Jonathan Taylor told the court that his client had consumed wine on the day in question but was ‘extremely surprised’ at the levels she had recorded. He said that another vehicle had veered into her lane causing the collision and there had been no evidence of impaired driving.
He said: “She is extremely remorseful. She made a very bad mistake on this one occasion. She is very sorry.”
The court heard that Boyle, who is self employed, had no previous convictions or cautions on her record.
The chair of the bench told Boyle that her alcohol reading was ‘very high and concerning’.
She was sentenced to an eight-week curfew during which she must stay at her home address between 9pm and 6am and was told an electronic tag would be fitted to her that evening.
She was also banned from driving for two years and must pay £170 in fines and prosecution costs.