A mum-of-four who crashed her car while five times the drink drive limit has avoided jail.
Magistrates banned Chrissy Fletcher from driving for three years, telling her that her reading was “exceptionally high”.
The first time offender – who wept throughout the hearing – was let off with a suspended sentence after the Huddersfield court heard how she was depressed and turned to alcohol as a coping mechanism.
Fletcher, 41, pleaded guilty to driving while over the prescribed limit.
Alex Bozman, prosecuting, told Kirklees magistrates that just before 2pm on June 23 police were called to a minor collision on Pennine Way in Scissett.
Fletcher’s Volkswagen Touran was involved in the smash and when officers arrived she was still sitting in the vehicle.
She was arrested after failing a roadside breath test and taken to Huddersfield Police Station.
There further breath tests showed that she had 168 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.
This was almost five times the legal limit of 35 microgrammes.
Mr Bozman told magistrates: “It’s a significant reading, well over the permitted level and over and above your highest category in terms of sentencing guidelines.”
The court heard that Fletcher, of Victoria Street in Clayton West, had no previous convictions.
Her solicitor Ian Whitley explained that on the day of the offence she was driving up to the moors with the intention of harming herself.
He said: “She’d drunk a considerable amount and there was a road traffic collision.
“it’s an offence which is out of character for her but an aggravating feature is clearly the considerable reading.”
Fletcher was described as a homemaker who over the years had stayed at home to look after her four children.
Magistrates were told that she was a recovering alcoholic, having turned to drink to cope when one of her children suffered a brain tumour.
She then started drinking again at Christmas when surrounded by relatives at her home.
The court was told that she was remorseful about her behaviour but was only thinking about herself due to her low mood.
Fletcher apologised to magistrates, telling them: “I know I’ve done wrong.”
She was sentenced to 16 weeks in custody, suspended for a year.
Chairman of the bench Wayne Perrimam told her: “I think you appreciate how serious this is.
“It could have been a lot worse, it could have been your child crossing the road.
“It’s an exceptionally high reading, there was an accident and you were well over the custody threshold.”
Fletcher was ordered to complete six months of alcohol treatment, a 33 day drink impaired drivers scheme up to 10 days of rehabilitation activities as part of a community order.
Magistrates banned her from driving for 36 months and told her to pay £85 costs plus £115 victim surcharge.
