A woman caught behind the wheel of her Audi after a crash had spent the afternoon 'topping up' on drink having boozed with a pal the night before.
Nicola Speak, 47, was more than three times the drink drive limit when she was stopped in her Audi A3 by an off-duty police officer on December 15 last year.
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Manchester Magistrates' Court heard the cop stopped at a set of traffic lights before seeing Speak turning 'overly wide' around a corner onto Captains Clough Road, Bolton, at around 3.40pm.
Her car then hit a green Mini Cooper.
Police found Speak behind the wheel, who appeared to be ‘confused’.
She was breathalysed and blew a reading of 120 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.
Peter Conrad, prosecuting, said: “On the 15th of December an off duty police officer, a Ms Jones, was in her own vehicle and had stopped a set of traffic lights.
“She saw an oncoming silver Audi which turned very widely onto Captains Clough Road.
“It then collided with a green mini cooper.
“Ms Jones got out and checked if everyone was okay. She went over to the Audi, opened the driver door and Ms Speak was very confused.”
The court heard Speak had relapsed into using alcohol prior to the incident.
The night before, she had been drinking with friends and had spent the following afternoon drinking with another friend ‘topping up’.
She plead guilty to driving a motor vehicle with an alcohol level above the limit at an earlier hearing.
Defending, David O’Reilly said Speak was ‘extremely remorseful’ for her actions, which she ‘knew [were] very wrong’.
He said: “Ms Speak has been facing problems over recent times.
“She had been out the night before and drinking a lot of alcohol.
“The day after she drove to a friends’ house and drank some more, essentially topping up on the level of alcohol still in her system from the night before.
“She gave no reason for her actions and accepted it was extremely stupid, she knew it was very wrong and is very remorseful.
“Ms Speak has told me that she has relapsed using alcohol and needs help and assistance with this.
“She knows today she was at risk of going to prison for this incident.”
District Judge Bernard Begley told Speak her actions put her on the ‘cusp' of jail time.
He added: “When people drink to the excess that you did, prison is a big possibility. You were on the cusp of a custodial sentence today.
“But it is clear to me that you are capable of staying clear of any further problems.
“You must not drive between now and the end of your driving ban, or you will be back here again.
“I must tell you, you came so close to losing your liberty. Don’t do this again.”
Ms Speak, of Lowndes Street, Bolton, was handed an 18-month community order; told to complete 10 days of rehabilitation; ordered to complete six months of alcohol treatment; and complete 100 hours of unpaid community work.
She was banned from driving for 30 months and told to pay a £95 surcharge and £80 in costs.
