Hartlepool kitchen assistant banned after being double the drink-drive limit

Robyn Abbey, 29, was stopped in Sinclair Road, Hartlepool, at about 11.30pm while driving an Audi A1.

Teesside Magistrates Court heard police followed her after she failed to indicate at a junction.

Saba Shan, prosecuting, said: “The officer spoke to the defendant who told him she had had two pints.

"For that reason a roadside breath test was requested which she has gone on to fail.”

After being taken to the police station Abbey was found to have 163 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

The legal blood alcohol limit is 80ml of alcohol.

Abbey, a kitchen assistant, admitted driving while over the limit on September 27.

She had no previous convictions or cautions.

Her solicitor Alison Banks said in mitigation that her client had been through a difficult time after splitting from her long-time partner.

Ms Banks said Abbey, of Truro Drive, Hartlepool, had been out with friends that night and believed she was okay to drive.

She added Abbey was breathalysed because of her own frank admissions to the police, not because she appeared drunk.

Ms Banks added: “She is genuinely remorseful.”

Abbey was disqualified from driving for 18 months, but was told the ban could be reduced by a quarter if she completes a drink drive rehabilitation course before next April.

She was also fined £120 and ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs and a £34 statutory surcharge.

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