Kirkby woman who woke at night thinking it was morning was FOUR times over limit

Sonia Rycroft swerved her white Vauxhall "continuously" and nearly hit another motorist as they overtook her on the A38, at 7pm on September 25, said prosecutor Becky Allsop.

When the motorist stopped at traffic lights her son got out and removed Rycroft’s keys and said: “What are you doing? You are drunk.”

Police reported a strong smell of alcohol when they arrived, and a breath test revealed she had 143 microgrammes of alcohol when the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

She told police she was on her way to start a 7am shift at Morrisons and had three glasses of wine the night before.

But she added that the alcohol may have had a greater effect as she had been trying to stop drinking.

She woke up thinking it was 6.30am and said she was sorry for being four times over the limit.

Nichola Thorpe, mitigating, said Rycroft, aged 55, of previous good character, deserved credit for her guilty plea and takes full responsibility or her actions which were “extremely out of character”.

She began drinking more after her marriage ended in 2020, and now accepts she has an issue with alcohol which she is taking steps to address.

“She had been drinking at home and fell asleep and when she woke up she thought it was the morning,” said Ms Thorpe. “Thankfully no one was injured and there were no accidents.”

Rycroft, of Nest Avenue, Kirkby, admitted drink driving when she appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court on October 17.

Sentencing was adjourned until Thursday, when the presiding magistrate told her: “This is one of the highest readings I have ever seen in 20 years on the bench. The reading is so high it is off the scale.

"You really do need to do something about it. What could have happened is frightening.”

She received a 12-week prison term, suspended for 12 months, and was disqualified for 34 months.

But she was offered a rehabilitation course which could reduce the ban by 25 per cent if she completes it by October 21, 2025.