South Shields mum crashed on Northumberland's Spine Road dual carriageway while four times the limit

Mary Chrisp, 37, pranged her Vauxhall Corsa on the A189 Spine Road, which runs near Cramlington, Northumberland, on Tuesday, December 29.

Chrisp, of Whitehall Street, Tyne Dock, South Shields, at first refused to be breath tested but relented after her arrest.

She provided a reading of 130mcgs of alcohol in 100mls of breath. The legal limit is 35mcgs.

Magistrates in South Tyneside commended her for staying sober since the accident, despite having a long-standing alcohol problem.

And they spared her a potential 26-week prison term - but disqualified her from the roads for 36 months and handed her a 12-month community order.

Prosecutor Glenda Beck said: “As a result of a minor traffic collision, officers were called.

“The was a vehicle breakdown on the roadside and the defendant was asked to provide a specimen of breath.

“She refused, but as a result of officers smelling alcohol on her breath and that she was slurring her speech, she was arrested.

“At the police station, she gave two samples on the CAMIC device. The lowest was 130mcgs.”

The court heard Chrisp was banned for drink-driving in 2006 and was last before the courts in 2016 for driving without due care and attention.

David Forrester, defending, told the court how his client was turning her life around.

“She went cold turkey after this incident. She now tells me that she has a job interview,” he said.

“The reason that she was driving was that she was in a situation where she didn’t feel safe. The reading is high.

“She is a perfectly personable lady. She has a target, and she has a plan. Since December 29, that’s how long she's been sober.

“She’s executed that plan as well as she can. She was drinking two bottles of wine a day.”

The community order has a requirement of 20 days of rehabilitation work with the Probation Service.

Chrisp, who pleaded guilty to drink-driving, must also abide by an eight-week 10pm to 7am curfew, and pay a £95 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.