Drink driver spotted by police 'snaking from side to side' on A689 after going out to buy cigarettes

Pamela Jane Short, 56, pleaded guilty to drink driving when she appeared before Teesside Magistrates’ Court this week.

Rachel Stapleton, prosecuting, said a police officer was on patrol at around 2.30am on November 20 when a black Audi car being driven by Short caught his attention on the A689 in Hartlepool.

She said: “He saw it strike the nearside kerb on several occasions and it was snaking from side to side on the carriageway.”

Short, who lives in the town’s Hart Lane, was arrested at the scene and taken to the police station where tests were carried out and found she had 89 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, with the limit being 35.

Neil Taylor, defending, said: “She pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity and fully cooperated with the police officer.”

He said Short was having difficulty sleeping due to stress and had been drinking alcohol the evening before the incident.

Mr Taylor said: “She realised she didn’t have any cigarettes. She thought she was alright to drive, clearly she wasn’t and was pulled over.”

The hotel bar worker, who already had a previous conviction for driving with excess alcohol and one for failing to provide a specimen, was banned from driving for 40 months and given a 12-month community order. She was fined £250 for the offence and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £90 victim surcharge.