Teacher was still THREE times over limit after swerving across lanes on M1 near Mansfield the next day
A teacher drank so much at a work reunion she was still THREE times over the limit the following day when police stopped her for swerving across lanes on the M1, a court has heard.
Victoria Hale was "all over the road" when a member of the public raised the alarm at 6.20pm on September 29, said prosecutor Katherine Wilson.
An officer in an unmarked car joined the motorway at junction 28 and saw her “swerving all over the road” before signalling for her stop in an emergency layby.
But she continued northbound until another officer began following and she finally stopped on a slip road just after junction 29.
She was so unsteady on her feet the officer had to hold her arm to stop her from falling, Ms Wilson added.
A breath test revealed she had 118 microgrammes of alcohol when the legal limit is 35 microgrammes
Ian Pridham, mitigating, said Hale, of previous good character, was apologetic and remorseful.
He said she drank “a huge amount of alcohol” into the early hours of Sunday morning and thought she’d left enough time before getting behind the wheel.
But the court heard the M1 “is never a quiet road even at 6.20pm on a Sunday evening.”
Mr Pridham said Hale, a secondary school teacher, has no issues with alcohol and this was “very much a one-off.”
Hale, 44, of Lakeside Rise, Manchester , admitted drink-driving when she appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Tuesday.
She was disqualified for 26 months, but a rehabilitation course could reduce the ban by 25 per cent. She was fined £1,472, with a £589 surcharge and £85 costs.