A PA continued driving after her car’s airbag was deployed when she crashed into a tree while over five times the drink-drive limit, a court heard.
Experienced magistrates said in years of court service the reading was the highest they’d ever encountered and was so high it smashed through the established sentencing guidelines.
Witnesses said 28 year-old mum-of-one Carley House was “spaced out” after her severely damaged black Ford Fiesta came to a halt and a resident snatched the ignition keys.
At Croydon Magistrates Court she was sentenced to twelve weeks imprisonment, suspended for eighteen months, and banned from driving for three years.
“Some of us have been sitting in court many, many years and we have never seen such a high quantity of alcohol in someone’s system,” said bench Chairwoman Lesley Budge.
“You are not even on our sentencing guidelines. You are way over.”
Mum-of-one House, of Derwent Lodge, St. Phillips Avenue, Worcester Park, Sutton pleaded guilty to driving with 191 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath in nearby Sandringham Road on March 3.
The legal limit is 35.
Prosecutor Roz Wordell told the court it was 8.15pm on a Sunday when a local resident heard a “loud bang” outside their address.
“The witness saw House driving and she was trying to drive away so they took the keys out of the ignition and called the police.
“She was sitting in the driver’s seat and was clearly intoxicated and is described as ‘spaced out’.
“The Fiesta had collided with a tree in the street and despite the air bags being deployed she tried to drive off, but only travelled two metres before the damage prevented the vehicle going any further.”
House’s lawyer Judy Ramjeet told the court: “She is extremely scared of being in court today. She has never previously got behind the wheel of a car having drunk alcohol.
“She would always take public transport, a taxi or walk. She can’t explain why she did what she did and is mortified by her actions.
“She did drive a very short distance, it was very quiet, she had no passengers and there was nobody around.
“Unfortunately she potentially lost her job as a result of this incident, received a minor injury to her shoulder and has been very depressed since the incident.
“She is very scared at the thought of going to prison and does not think she would cope in prison.
“She has tried to tackle her alcohol problem and did go to residential treatment last summer, but after the break-up of her relationship with her partner at the time she resumed drinking.”
The magistrate told tearful House: “When you are behind the wheel of a car you could hurt yourself or damage another vehicle.
“You could have hit a person, instead you hit a tree. It could have been a mother pushing a buggy along with two kiddies.
“We have to mark the fact that you were driving with such a large amount of alcohol in your system.
“This was a high reading out of our guidelines, out of our experience. These were serious matters, but the outcome could have been so much worse.”
House was also ordered to complete 80 hours community service work, complete a 30-day activity requirement and pay a £115 victim surcharge and £85 costs.
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