Boldon motorist refused to be tested for drink or drug driving twice in four months
A South Tyneside motorist who twice in four months refused to be tested when suspected of drink or drug driving has been spared jail.
Sophie Smith, 22, was handed an eight-week suspended prison term by a judge who also banned her from the roads for three years.
She committed her first offence after police stopped her red Vauxhall Corsa on the westbound Felling Bypass at Gateshead on Wednesday, November 27 last year.
Smith, of Hindmarch Drive, West Boldon, smelled of alcohol but claimed asthma prevented her from being breath tested, prosecutor Jonathan Moore said.
When officers instead asked her to provide a sample of blood for analysis, she insisted she was also scared of needles.
-(1).jpg?crop=3:2,smart&trim=&width=640&quality=65)
Mr Moore said Smith also refused to be breath tested after she crashed the same car at South Tyneside’s Whitemare Pool roundabout on Saturday, March 1.
He told South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court: “The defendant was identified as being involved in a single vehicle collision in a red Vauxhall.
“She left the driver’s side of the vehicle and members of the public prevented this. She was arrested on suspicion of being unfit through drink or drugs.
“Despite numerous requests for a breath test, she failed to provide a sample for analysis.”
Smith pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to provide a sample for analysis.
David Forrester, defending, said: “I don’t have much to add. I think she has no history.
“I think she could benefit from some support from the Probation Service.”
District Judge Zoe Passfield told Smith her second offence passed the custody threshold because it was committed while on bail.
She jailed her for eight weeks for that and to four concurrent weeks for the first matter, both suspended for 12 months.
The judge ordered Smith to complete 20 rehabilitation days and pay a £154 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.
She gave her credit for her early guilty pleas, but warned her: “If you drive while disqualified you can expect to go to custody.”
Judge Passfield also offered Smith a place on a ban reducing drink driver rehabilitation programme.