Actor Honeysuckle Weeks has admitted to drink-driving, but claims she got behind the wheel to escape being coerced into a threesome, a court heard.
The 43-year-old star of ITV’s Foyle’s War had been out drinking last November and was invited to stay the night with friends in Arundel, West Sussex, but the actor feared she would be coerced into sex.
She left the house and despite being drunk got behind the wheel of her silver Honda CR-V SUV, Worthing Magistrates’ Court was told on Tuesday.
Weeks reversed into a parked car before driving off and then returning a short time later. The incident was seen by an off-duty police officer who stopped the car and realised the driver was drunk.
After failing to carry out a roadside breath test, Weeks was taken to a police station where a breathalyser test showed she was more than twice the legal drink-drive limit. The test showed she had 78mg in 100ml of breath, when the legal limit is 35mg.
Weeks, of Byworth, West Sussex, pleaded guilty to drink driving on Tuesday.
Mathew Howell, prosecuting, said: “On Monday 28 November last year at approximately 7.20pm the defendant was driving her vehicle in Arundel when she was seen to reverse into a parked car on the street.
“The defendant drove off from the scene before returning 15 seconds later. The vehicle was stopped and the police officer realised the driver was drunk.”
Weeks told magistrates she only got into the car after she felt she was in danger of being coerced into sex with a man and his lover.
“I was expecting to stay a night in a friend’s house in Arundel but the man in question invited his lover to the property and I was in danger of being coerced into sexual actions with them which I found extremely unwelcome,” she said.
She told magistrates she needed her car to take her son to school every day. Weeks added that she was not earning any money at present and was only receiving universal credit.
Magistrates banned her from driving for 20 months and fined her £120 with £85 costs and a victim surcharge of £48.
Weeks agreed to undertake a drink driving awareness course which would reduce her driving ban by 20 weeks, meaning she could get her licence back in April 2024.
The actress told the court she was no longer receiving care at the Chichester Centre in Chichester, West Sussex, a low-secure forensic mental health inpatient service run by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
It provides inpatient care across three wards for men and women primarily focused on long-term rehabilitation for people with serious mental illnesses.
In July 2016, Weeks, disappeared during a stay as a voluntary patient at a care centre near her home in West Sussex.
Sussex Police issued an appeal saying they were searching for Weeks who disappeared after exhibiting “concerning behaviour”.
However, she was later found safe and well and remained with police before returning to West Sussex.
Her disappearance was not the first time the Oxford graduate has sparked concern for her wellbeing.
In 2015 she was caught speeding with her five-year-old son in the back when she was serving a driving ban.
Following sentencing, she was made to wear an electronic tag and a nightly curfew was imposed for a month.
Weeks made no comment as she left court.
