Mansfield Magistrates' Court: Sutton woman drank whisky and drove the day after her best friend’s funeral

Police watched Karen Jacques drive her Vauxhall through a red light traffic light and swerve across the lanes on Rosemary Street, Mansfield, on December 14, at 11.20am.

Lottie Tyle, prosecuting at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court, said Jacques’s driving was “hesitant” and she nearly collided due to late braking.

When she was pulled over Jacques, aged 63, told officers: “I only had a whisky coffee this morning. I won't cause you any problems.”

A breath test revealed she had 46 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, when the legal limit is 35mcg. Jacques, of Sherwood Road, admitted drink-driving.

Driving ban handed down

Lesley Pidcock, mitigating, said Jacques, of previous good character, was “devastated to find herself here and deeply embarrassed”.

She said the obligatory disqualification will have a disproportionate impact on her as she and her husband run a cleaning company. She is due to have operations for cancer and a hip replacement and had been at her best friend's funeral the day before, Ms Pidcock said.

She said: “She was struggling to come to terms with the death and had the drink the following morning. She was driving her husband's car and wasn’t used to it. “Can I ask you to consider the minimum disqualifiction because of her significant personal mitigation?”

Jacques was fined £120 and ordered to pay a £48 surcharge and £85 costs. She was banned from driving for 12 months, although a rehabilitation course while reduce the disqualification by 25 per cent if she completes it successfully.