Skegness driver banned after crashing into a bus while drunk

A Skegness woman has been disqualified from driving after being almost three times over the limit when she drove into a bus.
The scales of justiceThe scales of justice
The scales of justice

Nicola Relph,(42) of Derby Avenue, admitted driving her Ford Fiesta while being over the drink-drive limit when she appeared at Boston Magistrates Court yesterday (Wednesday, October 4).

Prosecuting, Marie Stace, said Relph was involved in an road traffic collision on September 7 when her car hit a bus in South Road, Chapel St Leonards.

Ms Stace told the court that when police arrived at around 5.30pm, Relph was still in the drivers seat and later gave a positive breath test at a police station.

The test showed Relph had 98 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

The legal limit is 35.

Stace added that Relph could not remember much about the incident as she had ‘drunk a lot’ before driving.

She said Relph previously had a clean driving license and started drinking after having some behavioural problems with her children and being in financial difficulty.

Mitigating, Philippa Chatterton said that Relph was struggling to cope at the time and had received a visit from social services on the day of the incident.

She added that Relph had drunk too much whilst at a friend’s house and crashed into the bus on her way home.

Ms Chatterton said that Relph expressed genuine remorse and was thankful that no-one was hurt in the collision.

A probation service report was read out in court stating that Relph had hit ‘rock bottom’ following the visit from social services and was suffering from financial hardship. Her problems caused her to turn to alcohol.

The report revealed she had no previous issues with alcohol and had no mental health problems.

Magistrates disqualified Relph from driving for 26-months.

Her sentence will be reduced by 26-weeks following the completion of a drink-driving rehabilitation course.

She was also ordered to pay a £416 fine, £41 victim surcharge and £85 in costs.