Couple downed vodka before drink-driving in Mansfield

Dagmar Sosna was found at the wheel of her husband Mariusz’s Vauxhall, with him beside her, on Ladybrook Lane, at 3.30am, on November 19, after police saw the car driving erratically in Portland Retail Park.

Prosecutor Robert Carr said: “Officers were suspicious they had swapped positions. Both gave high readings.

“In interview he said his wife had been driving even though the car was only insured for him to drive. She had no driving licence.”

A test of Mrs Sosna revealed she was nearly three times over the limit, with 103 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, when the legal limit is 35 micrograms.

Chris Perry, mitigating, said: “Both had been drinking to excess and didn’t expect to be using the vehicle at all. Dagmar’s father had been taken critically ill in hospital.

“She decided to get more alcohol and took her husband’s car. They argued. He tried to prevent it happening. When he couldn’t stop her he went with her.”

He said the couple had no previous convictions and work full-time.

Mariusz Sosna, 39, of Milton Street, Mansfield, admitted aiding and abetting his wife’s driving offences, when they appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Friday.

Dagmar Sosna, 38, admitted drink driving, and driving without insurance or a licence, and will be sentenced on Tuesday, January 8, after the case was adjourned for a probation report.

Mr Sosna was given six penalty points on his licence and was fined £180 for alowing his wife to drive with no insurance. He must also pay £85 costs and a £30 government surcharge.