Suspended sentence for drink driver

Miroslava Herman, 33, of Norfolk Place, had previously admitted to two offences of driving with excess alcohol and was appearing for sentence following interview by the probation service.

Prosecuting, Ben Payne said that on September 16 last year at 6.30pm, she was driving her Audi car and crashed into a parked car on the A52 Main Road at Berrington.

Police were called and she was arrested after failing to provide a breath test in five attempts.

Mr Payne said that as Ms Herman told police she had blacked out, she was taken to hospital where she provided a blood sample which gave a reading of 100 milligrams of alcohol in her bloodstream, the legal limit being 80.

He said that on the second occasion – on December 13 – police were told about a drunk driver and found her in her car on the A16 at Sutterton and after a positive breath test, she was arrested and provided a sample of 97 microgrammes of alcohol in her breath, the legal limit being 35. After reading a report from the probation service, the magistrates said the offences had ‘passed the custody threshold’ and imposed an eight-week prison sentence suspended for a year and ordered she be electronically tagged for alcohol consumption for 90 days and to carry out 20 rehabilitation days.

She was also banned from driving for 30 months but was offered the drink drivers’ rehabilitation course which will reduce the period of the ban by 30 weeks.

She was also ordered to pay £213 in court costs.