Charlotte Carruthers caught over the drink-drive limit on two occasions

Charlotte Carruthers, 21, of Rose Tree Grove, New Earswick, was also ordered to do 40 hours unpaid work in the community, and pay £150 costs and a £60 victim surcharge. She is also attending a drink-drive rehabilitation course.

Carruthers had admitted driving in Blake Street, York, on August 3 last year, with 54 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is is 35 microgrammes.

She also pleaded guilty to being in charge of the same car, a Peugeot 307, in Lowther Terrace on December 20 with 60 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The offence happened while she was still on bail in relation to the first offence.

District Judge Foster told Carruthers that such offences were viewed very seriously by the courts and offenders could be imprisoned.

Michael Hammond, prosecuting at York Magistrates Court, said that at 4.45am on August 3, police officers who were parked in Blake Street in the city centre felt their vehicle nudged from behind by Carruther’s car, and carried out a roadside breath test on her.

He said that in the second incident, early on December 20, they saw her car being driven at speed and when it came to a halt carried out another roadside breath test.

Carl Codd, for Carruthers, said she had pleaded guilty to both offences, both of which had involved being over the limit by relatively low amounts.

He said there was a possibility that on the first occasion, her drinks had been spiked earlier in the night while she had been out in the city centre, but it had been impossible to determine this matter one way or the other.

On the second occasion, she had finished work, gone home to get changed and then gone to a nightclub.

Unfortunately, an argument had ensued and she had left to go home.

He said Carruthers’ life had gone into a downward spiral after losing a job and accommodation at a pub when the tenants had surrendered their tenancy back to the brewery.