Mother collected kids from school while three times over drive limit

A MOTHER of three drove her children home from school while she was three times the legal alcohol limit.

The 33-year-old from Holbrooks, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had drunk three quarters of a bottle of vodka before collecting her own children, aged three to seven-years-old, and their 10-year-old friend, Warwick Crown Court heard.

She pleaded guilty to a charge of cruelty and driving with excess alcohol, and was banned from driving for two years.

She was also ordered to take part in an alcohol treatment programme and follow an 8pm to 7am curfew.

The court was told she was late to collect the children and when she did arrive staff called police and social services because of their suspicions she was drunk.

Police called at her home and found her on the sofa. She admitted to having drunk a small amount of vodka during the day, but denied she had driven the children home from school.

All four children were found near the shops on Jubilee Crescent. She later admitted to having drunk almost an entire bottle of vodka.

David Rees, defending, said the mother’s greatest fear was not of losing her liberty, but of losing her children, and she would co-operate with any help she was given to tackle her alcohol problem.

Judge Richard Griffith-Jones told her: "Think about your children getting into your car with you in the state you were in. Can you imagine what could have happened?

"You should imagine a situation where the car is on its side, with your children in it. You have to face those pictures because that is what the law is guarding against."

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