A woman has been banned from the roads for nearly four years after being caught with more than twice the legal alcohol limit in her blood just two weeks after getting her licence back after a previous drink-drive conviction.
Katherine Aiken was unsteady on her feet as she bought some bottles of wine from the Co-operative store in the Locks Heath Shopping Village, then drove off in a red Mini.
The witness rang the police after seeing Aiken and officers visited the home of the 51-year-old in Poinsettia Close, Whiteley the same day – February 17 this year.
Officers discovered one empty bottle of wine and two full bottles.
Aiken initially denied going out in the car, but when officers found the car warm, she admitted she had been out but drank the wine when she got home.
A test revealed she had 207 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood – over the legal limit of 80 milligrammes – and Aiken was arrested.
“That’s a significantly high reading, as the legal limit is 80,” said prosecutor Alicia Keen.
“She has one previous conviction from July 20, 2011, for driving with excess alcohol and had her licence endorsed. She was disqualified for 24 months, which was reduced to 18 months on completion of the driving rehabilitation course.
“That means she had only had her licence back for about 14 days or so.”
Defending, Stephen Bentley said: “She has had a crisis in her life. In January this year she lost her job. That was the first time she’s ever experienced that. Subsequently she broke up with her partner.
“She had consumed alcohol the night before the incident. She had driven to the park to take her dog for a walk, and the witness said she saw a dog in the car.
“She had earlier injured her leg in the snow, from the cold weather we had. That was the reason for her stumbling, not from the alcohol. She did have some alcohol when she got home.
“She has taken action personally. She’s seen her GP and is suffering depression. The doctor is looking at her alcohol consumption, but I’m not going so far as to say she is an alcoholic. She is just consuming too much alcohol.
“She’d like to apologise to the court.”
Aiken pleaded guilty at Fareham Magistrates Court to the offence. She was banned from the roads for 46 months, fined £110 and ordered to pay court costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £20.
On sentencing her, chair magistrate Simon Keitley, said: “It’s a worry to the court that this is an offence that you have been previously convicted of and it’s happened so quickly after the last conviction period.”