Whaplode woman drove drunk to doctors

A woman, who had drunk “nearly a bottle of wine” the night before, “guessed” she would be over the limit when she drove to her doctor’s the next day, a court has heard.

Mercia Jessop-Dring (27) of Stockwell Gate West, Whaplode, admitted driving with almost four times the permitted level of alcohol in her body when she appeared before magistrates in Boston.

Prosecuting, Jim Clare said a concerned motorist reported Jessop-Dring’s manner of driving her Ford Mondeo on January 10, travelling at 50 to 55mph on North Road, Bourne.

He said she was weaving across the road and at one point the nearside of the car mounted the grass verge, before she pulled into the doctor’s surgery.

He said police attended and, after a positive breath test, she was arrested and gave a reading of 133 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Barbara Newman, for the Probation Service, said Jessop-Dring had told her she had drunk “nearly a bottle of wine” the night before and had guessed she might be over the limit.

“She has no alcohol problems but does use alcohol as a crutch,” she said.

She said Jessop-Dring had registered with Addaction and attended two sessions, adding that she suffered from anxiety and depression and was ‘very remorseful’.

Mitigating, Rebecca Keogh said Jessop-Dring had “strong family support” but had a “delicate personality” and that she had been “pushed over the edge on this occasion”.

She was said to be “very shocked and distressed” about her court appearance and “in dread” of the sentence.

The magistrates said they were impressed by the steps she had taken and so they were not going to impose a custodial sentence.

Instead they imposed a 12 month community order with 15 days of rehabilitation activity.

Jesso-Dring was banned from driving for 30 months but was offered the drink drivers’ rehabilitation course which will reduce the period of the ban by 30 weeks, and was fined £300 with an additional £170 in costs and charges.