Woman who drove through town centre while four times drink drive limit avoids jail
A woman who drove a car in a town centre while four times the drink drive limit has been given a suspended jail sentence and a lengthy road ban.
Emma Hunt, 36, drove a Vauxhall Zafira in Stafford on June 2 this year while over the alcohol limit.
She was approached by police in Sundown Drive in the western outskirts of the town and completed a breath test.
The proportion of alcohol in her breath was 145 microgrammes per millilitre of breath - just over four times the legal limit of 35.
Hunt, of Eccleshall Road in Stafford, was prosecuted and pleaded guilty to drink driving on July 5.
On August 18 she was sentenced at Cannock Magistrates Court, where she was given a suspended jail sentence of eight weeks, suspended by 18 months. She was also banned from driving for 36 months, though that will be reduced by 36 weeks if she completes a rehabilitation course within two years.
The magistrates heard that the offence was aggravated because of the high breath reading and because Hunt had driven "through the town centre", but that the sentence could be suspended because of her "strong personal mitigation and likely prospect of rehabilitation".
Hunt was also told to pay prosecution costs of £135, complete 100 hours of unpaid work and and take part in up to 20 days of rehabilitation activity.
