South Shields Greggs worker cut from car after drink-drive crash following friend's 50th birthday

Ashley Dixon, 30, was almost three times the limit when she hit a vehicle in Whiteleas Way, South Shields, and flipped her Nissan Qashqai.

The Greggs bakery worker, of Moreland Road, Whiteleas, then collided with two other cars before coming to a stop, South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court heard.

She was uninjured but trapped inside by her seatbelt and had to be released by the emergency services at around 10.30pm on Friday, August 21.

Dixon failed a roadside breath test and was arrested, and a blood test at a police station proved her high alcohol level.

The married mother-of-one admitted she had driven home from the celebratory bash but got back behind the wheel after forgetting something for her daughter.

Dixon, who conceded she had been “so stupid” to do so, was banned from the roads for two years and ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work.

Prosecutor Grace Taylor said: “Officers are called after reports that the defendant’s vehicle had collided with a vehicle and overturned onto its side.

“It collided with two other vehicles. She was trapped in the car by her seatbelt. She was freed, and required to conduct a breath test, which was failed.

“She was taken to the police station where the lowest reading was 229mgs. She has no previous convictions.”

Dixon’s police station sample was 229mgs of alcohol in 100mls of blood. The legal limit is 80mgs.

Defending herself, Dixon insisted she did not have an issue with alcohol, adding: “I was just so stupid, I should never have got behind the wheel.

“If I’ve drank before, I’ve always taken a taxi. I’ve no idea, it was just so stupid. It was the worst thing that I’ve ever done in my life.

“I’d been to a friend’s for her 50th birthday. I got home and then realised that I’d forgotten something for my daughter.”

The court heard no-one else was injured in the collision, for which Dixon pleaded guilty to drink-driving.

She was also handed an 18-month community order and must pay a £95 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.

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