Swaffham woman caught drink-driving while picking child up from school

A mother was caught drink-driving while picking up her child from school after suspicious teachers alerted police.

The Swaffham woman, who cannot be named to protect her child’s identity, appeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday charged with drink-driving.

She pleaded guilty to the offence, which she committed on June 20. At approximately 3.40pm on that date, she was driving to a primary school in the town to pick up one of her children when staff, upon speaking to her, became concerned that she smelled of alcohol.

A 999 call was subsequently made, and a breath test at the scene revealed the was indeed over the legal limit.

She was arrested and taken into custody, where evidential tests revealed she had 69mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath in her system. The limit is 35mcg.

In mitigation, George Sorrell said the woman has been living in “very unhappy circumstances” in recent months – with her marriage breaking down, resulting in her sleeping on the sofa in her home.

“She had a couple of drinks this day, that is all,” the solicitor said.

“The behaviour and effects of that alcohol were aggravated by the fact that she hadn’t been eating or drinking enough other fluids.

“That conspired together to cause this problem, really. She is otherwise a woman of good character.”

Mr Sorrell added that the defendant will lose her job as a result of the offence, which brought with it a mandatory driving ban. Magistrates, led by John Hare, disqualified her for 18 months.

The woman was also said to be attending counseling sessions to combat her problems with alcohol.

“This is the start of a new chapter where she can bring the matter to a head and sort everything,” Mr Sorrell said.

The woman was also fined £120, and will pay a £48 victim surcharge. She was not handed any legal costs due to her means.