A "manipulative" barrister refused to provide the police with a specimen of breath when she was stopped on suspicion of drink driving.
Rachael Tansey, 44, of Formby, Merseyside, denied two offences of failing to provide a specimen for analysis, but was convicted following a recent trial at Sefton Magistrates' Court.
It is an offence under section 7(6) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 for a person, without reasonable excuse, to fail provide a specimen for analysis when required to do so. The maximum sentence on summary conviction is a fine at level 4 and/or 3 months' custody.
Tansey's defence was on the basis that recent cosmetic lip surgery was a reasonable excuse for failing to provide a specimen of breath; a phobia of needles was a reasonable excuse for failing to provide a specimen of blood. For reasons which will become apparent, the court rejected both of these defences.
Elizabeth Brown, prosecuting, told the court that an off-duty police officer alerted colleagues to Tansey's standard of driving during the early hours of Saturday, 20th April 2023.
In particular, the officer's attention had been drawn to the unusually slow speed and "weaving around" of Tansey's silver Range Rover, which was travelling on the A565 Formby bypass.
Uniformed officers attended Tansey's home address a short time later and asked her to undergo a roadside breath test, which she refused.
According to Ms Brown, Tansey "failed to give a sample of breath despite being given multiple opportunities to do so."
PC Thomas Moore, giving evidence, told the court that the silver Range Rover smelt of alcohol.
He said: "(Tansey) said that she would be unable to provide a roadside breath test because she had cosmetic surgery on her lips the day before.
"She was putting her lips around the tube and forming a seal at one point to provide a partial sample but could not complete and provide a full sample.
"She was very arrogant to be honest."
Tansey was arrested and taken to the police station, where she was asked to provide an evidential specimen of breath. She again failed to do so, citing the recent surgery on her lips.
The officers noted that she had her lips partially around the tube and told her "you are not even trying."
Tansey replied: "I am doing my very best. It is like asking someone to jump up after a tummy tuck. I cannot do it."
Unable to obtain a specimen of breath, the officers then requested Tansey to provide a specimen of blood.
She replied: "Good luck trying to get blood from me. Let's roll the dice. I will not consent to blood."
CCTV footage showed that at no time did Tansey mention a phobia of needles.
Tansey was then charged with both offences.
Giving evidence in her own defence, Tansey denied that she had been drinking. She said she had just completed an 18-hour shift at work and had accidentally dropped a chicken wrap in the foot well of the car. She also said that she had been using mouthwash at the time.
She maintained that the surgery on her lips meant she had been unable to blow into the machine; a phobia of needles, which was not diagnosed, had prevented her from giving a specimen of blood.
District Judge James Hatton, unsurprisingly, found Tansey's evidence very unsatisfactory.
He said: "From the moment that you got out of the car you attempted to manipulate this situation.
"You have tried to delay and delay and delay the officers. You tell the officers that you had nothing to drink. Clearly you had at least something to drink.
"I find it extremely unlikely indeed that you would be eating a chicken wrap, chewing gum and swilling the mouthwash and spitting it into a cup while driving along the Formby bypass.
The judge concluded: "I reject your account in its entirety as there is no support for it. You are a witness who lacks any kind of credibility whatsoever.''
The is an absolutely damning summary by DJ Hatton, who clearly does not believe a word Tansey has said. That is not a good position for a barrister to be in.
Tansey was granted unconditional bail until her sentencing at Liverpool Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 4th March 2025.
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