A reckless mother crashed her car while driving with her two young children as passengers after drinking half a bottle of vodka – leaving her with one of the highest breath test readings a magistrate in Wakefield had ever seen.
Disgraced Kelly Stenson, 30, was nearly five times the limit when she was found by cops after a member of the public reported her Toyota Aygo – which had been abandoned after smashing into some metal gates at around 4pm on January 18.
Police found the mum and her two daughters, who were aged just six and three, near the car.
Wakefield Magistrates Court heard that the children were ‘upset and distressed’ at the time.
Andy Wills, prosecuting, told how a breath test of Stenson, of Crigglestone, revealed 171mcgs in 100mls of breath. At the police station she tested 151mcgs in 100mls of breath – while the legal limit is 35mcgs.
Chairman of the bench Stuart Swallow said: “The reading that was gathered was one of the highest I have ever come across, and that’s something.”
Stenson pleaded guilty to drink driving at an earlier hearing in February, and this week was handed a three-year driving ban.
Courts have to impose an automatic ban for any offence of drink driving.
Roger Clapham, defending, told magistrates that Stenson had been having ‘marital problems’ which had since been resolved, along with financial problems.
His mitigation included details of how she had recently lost her grandmother.
On the day of the incident she was said to have consumed half a bottle of vodka.
He added: “It happened once and once only, and because of what happened since, and the time spent in police cells, it will never happen again.” The court heard how Stenson was voluntarily working with Turning Point and a group called Lifeline to tackle her alcohol use and depression.
In addition to the driving ban, Stenson was given a 12-month community order with a 30-day activity programme requirement.
She was also ordered to pay £85 in costs and a £60 victim surcharge as part of her penalty.