A drink driving mother-of-three has been banned from the road for 20 months after crashing a Mercedes CLK into a bus stop in Tattingstone.
Michaela Read, 29, of St Catherines Court, Ipswich, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol, driving without a licence, driving without insurance and driving without due care and attention when she appeared before magistrates in Ipswich on Tuesday, February 12.
Lesla Small, prosecuting, said police were called to the scene of a single vehicle crash in White Horse Hill at around 12.30am on July 30 last year.
“The Mercedes had failed to stop at a give way junction, had gone straight over the carriageway, through a bus stop and then came to a rest in a field,” she said.
“The officers were able to perform a road side breath test.
“The initial reading was 88 micrograms in breath but as it was a road traffic collision, Miss Read was taken to Ipswich Hospital.
“While at the hospital a blood test was taken which showed 139mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. The limit is 80mg.
“If it has been any earlier, when members of the public were using the bus stop, it could have been devastating,” she added.
The bus stop was completely destroyed as a result of the crash.
Ms Small told the court that Read made full admissions when quizzed by detectives.
She said Read admitted that she was ‘going a bit fast’, hadn’t seen the junction and then hit the bus stop.
In mitigation, Jeremy Kendall said Read had been drinking ‘on and off’ during the day and had later received a call from a friend who asked her to pick her up from work.
“She foolishly did so,” said Mr Kendall
“All she can do is apologise to the court.
“She knows she shouldn’t have been driving.”
Presiding magistrate John Glover banned Read from the road for 20 months, which will be reduced by 20 weeks on completion of a driver awareness course, and handed her fines of £120 each for driving with excess alcohol and driving with no insurance.
He gave no separate penalty for driving without a licence and for careless driving.
He also ordered her to pay £85 in court costs and a £30 victim surcharge.
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