'Chit-chatting' Sunderland mum banned from driving after drinking wine in car

Jamie Carr, 44, told a court it had been a spur of the moment decision to buy booze and park up near her home in Hylton Road, Sunderland, and get drunk.

She had the engine of her VW Passat running and indicators flashing – but she insisted she did not intend to drive on Monday, November 19, magistrates heard.

Prosecutors accepted her explanation and charged her with the lesser offence of being in charge of a vehicle while over the limit.

South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court heard Carr had committed a similar crime months before for which she was given 10 penalty points.

Magistrates have now given her another 10 points and banned her from the roads for six months under the totting up process.

Prosecutor Ben Woodward said: “Police received a call from a motorist about a possible drunk driver.

“They found her in Hylton Road with the engine on and the near side indicators on.

“She was sitting in the driver’s seat, drinking wine, sitting with an open bottle of wine between her legs. She failed a breath test.”

Carr gave a breath test reading of 108mcgs of alcohol in 100mls of breath. The legal limit is 35mcgs.

The court heard the offence carried a sentence of a six-month ban or 10 penalty points.

Self-employed single parent Carr, who defended herself in court, claimed she had finally learnt her lesson, telling magistrates: “I made a really big mistake which I regret.

“I stopped off on the spur of the moment. I had no intention of ending up there.

“I was on the route home when I saw friends and picked them up and got chit-chatting.

“We bought the alcohol, then parked up when I was in my street. I had no intention of driving.”

They heard she was given an interim ban after pleading guilty to the charge in August, meaning her ban expires on February 26.

She was also fined £150, with £85 court costs and a £32 victim surcharge.

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