Drink driver escaped from cops in Mansfield but caught later

Alisha Hopkins’ grey Polo was seen veering into the oncoming lane and officers followed it to the Fitness Flex health club car park, at 2am on June 30.

She and her male passenger fled in the direction of King’s Mill reservoir and officers gave chase, but lost the pair, said prosecutor Neil Hollett.

But the car was spotted on Nottingham Road, 25 minutes later, and a test revealed she had 46 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, when the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Hopkins, 26, of Forest Road, Clipstone, admitted drink driving when she appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Monday.

Valerie Thorpe mitigating, said Hopkins, a health care assistant at King’s Mill Hospital, who had no previous convictions, had about two drinks on a works night out and was driving a colleague home.

“She pulled over into the car park and because her male colleague ran, she ran,” Ms Thorpe said.

“She has never been in trouble before and that is perhaps why she panicked. She is extremely embarrassed about the incident.

“She hopes never to find herself before the courts again. It has been a huge learning curve for her.”

Hopkins was banned for 12 months. She was offered a drink drive rehabilitation course which will reduce her disqualification by 91 days, if completed before February 2018.

She was fined £350, with £85 costs and a £35 victim surcharge.