A woman who was four times over the legal limit when she was discovered sleeping at the wheel was spared jail time and given a fine after saying she began drinking excessively when she stopped her vehicle to watch a Netflix movie.
At Sandbrook Retail Park in Rochdale, Jessica Matthew, 26, was discovered slumped and unconscious in the driver’s seat with the vehicle’s engine still running in July.
Even though onlookers thought she had fallen fatally, Matthew awoke when the cops showed there. She spoke slurred when questioned and claimed to be feeling lightheaded.
A bottle of gin and tonic was also seen by the police on the passenger seat of her hatchback vehicle.
In contrast to the legal limit of 35mg, Matthew had 136 micrograms of alcohol in 100 milliliters of breath, according to a later breathalyzer test.
Mother-of-one Matthew pleaded to being intoxicated while operating a car at Tameside Magistrates Court in Greater Manchester but said she did not drink and drive.
After a “stressful day at work,” she claimed to have been binge-watching gin and tonic while watching a movie on her phone. Matthew said, “When I drink, I can’t stop drinking.” She received a £200 fine, £165 in costs, a victim surcharge, and a 12-month driving suspension.
prosecutor Ms. Shazad Aslam The defendant said that she was under stress from her job when she drove her car to Sandbrook, where she tried to watch a movie on her phone and consume some alcohol.
But that evening at approximately 5.45 o’clock, witness Nicole McArthur saw the defendant dozing off in her compact hatchback with her head resting on the steering wheel. At first, she realized she wasn’t moving and assumed she wasn’t breathing, which made her worried.
Miss MacArthur repeatedly slammed on the automobile window in an attempt to talk with the defendant. The defendant was wearing a seatbelt and the car’s engine was running.
This was seen by MacArthur and a few others, who then started shaking the vehicle and making loud sounds to try to rouse her awake. The defendant had awakened before the emergency services came despite one of the witnesses calling for them.
When questioned by the police, she claimed to be feeling dizzy but otherwise well and that she “had simply fallen asleep.” Matthew’s speech was slurred at the time.
A PC Hall, who spoke with Matthew first, saw the bottle of gin and tonic sitting next to her in the car and detained her for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Matthew had never been convicted before. In her seven years of driving, she has not accrued a single conviction or traffic infraction, according to her attorney Vic Wozny. The only reason she turned on the car was so she could charge her phone while watching a movie on her phone; she had no intention of operating the car while intoxicated.
“The booze was already in her car since she’s been having drinking problems lately.” She had attempted recovery before, but each time it failed, and she went back to drinking.
She is now looking for assistance from three organizations to overcome her drinking issue. She has consistently shown complete regret.
After a separate incident, Matthew showed up in the courtroom with her leg in a cast and on crutches.
Her accident left her unable to work, the court heard, and she now depends on universal credit and her father, who came with her to court.
Sentencing, JPs informed Matthew that they did not believe it was essential to give him a community sentence given his prior excellent record, the kind of job he had done up to this point, and his personal circumstances.
“We are happy that your father and the organizations who are supporting your transformation provide you with wonderful support.” You won’t have another opportunity, however, if it occurs again.