A drink-driver crashed into a wall after going out to buy cigarettes having had "a lot to drink". Leanne Robbins was "well and truly over" the drink-driving limit when the crash happened last month.
Leicester Magistrates' Court heard on Friday (February 28) how Robbins only smoked when she had been drinking and decided late at night that she wanted to go to get some cigarettes. She was in Uppingham Road in the Rutland village of Caldecott when she lost control and smashed into a wall outside a house.
The magistrates heard the noise of the crash, at 1.15am on Tuesday, February 13, woke up a neighbour who went outside to find Robbins, who was uninjured, trying to get the Seat car to move.
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Leicestershire Police arrived and asked Robbins if she was alright, to which she replied: "No, I've just crashed my car". They suspected she was drunk and she failed a roadside breath test.
She was taken to a police station where she gave a reading of 98 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.
Prosecutor Sukhy Basi said 36-year-old Robbins had a similar conviction from 2011, which had led to her being disqualified from driving for 14 months.
Barrie Fairburn, representing Robbins, who had pleaded guilty to drink-driving, said: "This woman is a lady who has insight into the risk that she caused that evening. She doesn't often drink but she did that evening.
"She felt she was able to drive in the car to buy some cigarettes. She only smokes when she is drinking."
Petrol station employee Robbins, of Tods Terrace, Uppingham, was given a 12-month community order with 100 hours of unpaid work. She was ordered to pay £85 court costs and a £114 victim surcharge. She was also banned from driving for 25 months.
The chair of the bench, Gareth Roberts, told Robbins: "This was clearly something quite serious. You were well and truly over the limit so you had had a lot to drink. It was aggravated by an accident and fortunately no one was injured."
