A Cheshire chemistry teacher was allowed to drive away from court after Magistrates accepted that her disqualification would cause exceptional hardship.
Katherine Campbell, 38, of Macclesfield, admitted an offence of being drunk in charge of a motor vehicle and two offences of being drunk in charge of a child during an earlier court appearance.
She recently appeared at Crewe Magistrates' Court for an exceptional hardship hearing.
Being drunk in charge of a motor vehicle is an offence under section 5(1)(b) of the Road Traffic Act 1988. It has a maximum sentence of 3 months' custody on summary conviction.
In simple terms being drunk in charge means that a person is in a position where they could drive a motor vehicle, although have not actually done so.
Readers might be surprised to learn that the offence attracts an obligatory endorsement, but only discretionary disqualification - e.g. not everyone who is convicted is disqualified from driving. The relevant sentencing guideline would indicate 10 penalty points for an offence at the less severe end of the spectrum.
In this case Campbell already had six penalty points on her licence, so by electing to impose ten more the court made her liable for a totting disqualification. The court is obliged to impose such a disqualification unless there are very good reasons not to. The validity of these reasons is determined by an exceptional hardship hearing.
Magistrates heard that the 38-year-old was reported to police by a concerned passerby on the early evening of Friday, 2nd May 2025.
The teacher had been observed putting her two children, aged 5 and 6, into the back of her BMW 3 series. The witness was so concerned by Campbell's drunken state that they confiscated her car keys prior to the arrival of the police.
Police arrested Campbell on suspicion of being drunk in charge. Any doubts about her level of intoxication were put to sleep when she blew more than three-times the prescribed limit on the evidential breathalyser.
At the initial hearing Campbell told the court that she had picked up her children before visiting her parents' property. She had then gone to neighbours and drank "three or four gin and soda waters".
Campbell denied having any intention to drive, saying that she was waiting for her partner to collect her and the children.
Addressing Magistrates at the exceptional hardship hearing, Campbell said that her workplace was a 40 minute car journey from her home. If disqualified, she would need to catch "two buses and two trains" to make the same 17 mile journey.
Having considered Campbell's representations, the court was of the view that exceptional hardship was made out.
Sentencing the offences in the round, Campbell was handed a 12-month community order with a 90 day alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement.
Addressing the defendant, Susan Taylor JP, Presiding Justice, said: "If you come before the court again for any offence to do with driving, you will get a lengthy ban and I mean lengthy. Please do not be back in here again."
With the usual rider that we do not know the full circumstances of the case, I must say that I find this decision slightly troubling.
No comments:
Post a Comment