A female motorist from Tavernspite who went out in her car to pick her son up has been disqualified after being caught driving at more than twice the legal alcohol limit.
Sixty-six-year-old Lesley Pritchard, appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday, to plead guilty to a charge of driving her Seat Ibiza on a road between Tavernspite and Prince Gate, whilst over the limit.
Prosecutor Vaughan Pritchard -Jones told magistrates how police officers stopped the defendant on the B4314 road shortly after 10.30 pm, on July 1, after she drove past their vehicle with a defective headlight.
“When officers spoke to her, they could smell intoxicants, and Mrs. Pritchard told them that she’d had three glasses of wine about an hour before,” he said.
She provided a reading at the police station of 74 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath - more than twice the limit.
Defence solicitor Mike Kelleher told the court that his client had made a ‘very foolish’ decision to drive.
“Her son had been on holiday and had returned from a horrendous journey back, so she decided to go and pick him up from Narberth, to save him getting a taxi,” he explained.
Magistrates handed the defendant a driving ban of 20 months and a fine of £120.
Mrs. Pritchard was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £85 and a surcharge of £30.
“This was a very foolish thing to do, and you know it. It would’ve been far better to get a taxi for you son, and unfortunately for the next 20 months, you’ll be getting taxis yourself, unless your son reciprocates the favour and taxi’s you around,” chief magistrate David Simpson told the defendant.