Ravenshead alcoholic's third drink drive conviction in ten years

A Ravenshead alcoholic fell off the wagon and was caught drink driving for the third time in ten years as she drove home, magistrates heard.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.Mansfield Magistrates Court.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.

Police were led to Mary Carroll’s address on The Hollies after a member of the public saw her car swerving across the road, just after midnight, on February 3.

A test revealed she had 89 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, when the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Prosecutor Robert Carr said a remorseful Carroll told officers she drank “a number of brandy and cokes”, and was six out of ten on a one to ten scale of drunkenness, but said she felt OK to drive.

The court heard she had previous convictions for drink driving and failing to provide a specimen in August 2008 and June 2013.

Morgan Hogarth, mitigating, said she provides daily care for her mother, who suffers from dementia, as well as support to her poorly daughter, and her partner, who lives in a care home in Arnold.

She has a number of health problems, including anxiety and depression, and has acknowledged she is an alcoholic, he said.

“Up until last year she wasn’t drinking,” Mr Hogarth said. “A few weeks before this she began drinking.”

He said Carroll, who works for the NHS, struggled to attend AA meetings because of her work and other commitments.

Probation officer Sarah Alderton said that Carroll had not had a drink since the offence.

Because she will now need to get two buses to get to work, she would struggle to get to rehabilitation activity meetings, said Ms Alderton, and her family commitments mean she is unsuitable for unpaid work at weekends.

Carroll, 61, admitted driving with excess alcohol when she appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Friday.

She was given an eight week prison sentence, suspended for 12 weeks.

She was banned for 36 months. A drink drive rehab course was not offered. She was ordered to pay £85 costs and a government surcharge of £115.