Drink driver banned from the road

A SCHOOL governor from Ipswich has been banned from the road for more than two years and ordered to complete 100 hours unpaid work after she admitted drink driving.

A SCHOOL governor from Ipswich has been banned from the road for more than two years and ordered to complete 100 hours unpaid work after she admitted drink driving.

Pedestrian David McLoughlin suffered an injured hand and knee after Sarah Adams' car mounted a pavement and struck him in the Ipswich Village car park in West End Road.

Adams, of Whitton Church Lane, was more than three times the legal drink drive limit. She had 113 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

Andrea Reynolds, prosecuting at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court, said the 45-year-old had left her car in the car park and had travelled by train to London for a business function.

Adams had returned to Ipswich and was at the wheel when her car's nearside wheels mounted the pavement, striking the pedestrian.

Ms Reynolds said the man “stumbled backwards into a fence and the car stopped at the end of the road junction”.

The Castle Hill Infant School governor became the first person to be highlighted in The Evening Star's name and shame campaign, which highlights drink drivers throughout the Christmas period.

At an earlier hearing, prosecutor Gareth Davies had told South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court that after the collision at around 5.30pm on November 20, Adams had driven on before stopping at a nearby junction.

Mr McLoughlin was with a group of friends who ran after the red Nissan Micra and banged on the window to get Adams to stop.

The police were called and when interviewed, Adams admitted she had been drinking Champagne at a function in London, before taking the train back to Ipswich and consuming more wine on the journey.

Mr Davies said: “Fortunately Mr McLoughlin suffered only minor injuries, grazing to his knuckles and injuring his leg.

“When police arrived they smelt alcohol on her breath and she immediately admitted that she had been drinking all day.”

Ian Duckworth, mitigating, said a pre-sentence report was compiled by the Probation Service and this detailed the offence and mitigation.

Magistrates said the offence was “so serious” that a community sentence must be passed. Adams was told to do 100 hours unpaid work and placed under the supervision of Probation officers for 12 months.

She was disqualified from driving for 28 months but was told if she completed a drink driver rehabilitation course the ban would be reduced by four months and end on November 27, 2009.

She was told to pay £60 towards court costs.