Threats to parents sparked Clipstone woman's drink drive

Colleen Johnson’s Ford Fiesta was stopped on Highfield Road, Clipstone, at 2am, on May 20, after police received a tip off.

A test revealed she had 70 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, when the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

District judge Jonathan Taaffe said: “The court can and does understand the exceptional circumstances that led to you taking the decision to drive that night.

“It was clearly an act of desperation on your part when you were suffering from emotional problems as a result of anti-social behaviour that had been directed towards your family.

“Many faced with the same dilemma would make the decision you made.

“However, that doesn’t mean that the court condones driving with excess alcohol.

“The problem is that people, when reacting to extreme situations, make rash decisions and this decision has been made even more rash by the fact you were more than double the drink drive limit.”

Johnson, 41, of Sixth Avenue, Clipstone, admitted drink driving when she appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Wednesday.

She was fined £200 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £30 government tax.

A 12 month ban was imposed, but she was offered a drink drive rehab course which will reduce the ban by 25 per cent.