A Craigavon childminder, with no record,, was caught by police twice the limit on a late night run to the shop after a night out.
Court heard the 29-year-old approached the rear of a police car with full beam lights on and was observed to hit the verge of the road on two occasions.
Lauren Henry, of Drumford Meadow, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
Prosecution outlined that on October 11, at 3.25am, police on patrol of Lake Road, Craigavon, observed a vehicle close to their rear with full beam lights on.
Officers moved across and the car passed them on their nearside.
Police signalled for the vehicle to stop but it failed to do so for some time. They observed the car hit the nearside verge on two occasions before finally coming to a stop.
Officers spoke to the driver, who was identified as the defendant. A strong smell of alcohol was detected and a preliminary breath test was conducted resulting in a fail.
Henry was arrested and an evidential sample obtained in custody gave a reading of 79mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath- over twice the legal limit.
Defence barrister Ciara Ennis stated: “She has a clear record and this was a plea at the earliest opportunity. She is a single mother of two children and works as a childminder.
“She had been on a night out, she had gone home and had made the bad decision to go to a 24 hour shop.”
Henry was disqualified from driving for 12 months and was ordered to pay a fine of £200, along with the offender’s levy of £15, within 10 weeks.
She was certified for the drink driving course which would see her ban reduced to one of nine months upon completion.
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