Three children had a lucky escape when a drunken mother crashed her car into a roundabout, a court heard.

Sharon Stark, 36, was almost four times the drink-drive limit when she got behind the wheel of the Vauxhall Zafira.

Magistrates heard how a passerby saw Stark drive the car over the junction of Crayford Road and Princes Road, Dartford, without stopping. She drove the vehicle on to the roundabout and into bushes.

As the passerby approached the car, she was concerned there were two children in the back and another being held by a young man in the front.

A breath test showed Stark had 137 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

“She didn’t realise it at the time but she was slipping into an area of depression and become dependent on alcohol” - Matthew Coxall, defending

Stark, who is a mother of three, sat through the hearing with her head bowed and took a suitcase into the dock with her.

It was not revealed in court if the children in the car were hers.

Magistrates heard Stark had told police she had a drinking problem. Following the birth of her youngest child, who is now six months old, her relationship with her husband deteriorated.

Matthew Coxall, defending, said: “She didn’t realise it at the time but she was slipping into an area of depression and become dependent on alcohol.”

He said her father had died from alcohol abuse and her brother also had problems with alcohol.

Since the incident in August, Stark had referred herself to a support group and stopped drinking.

Mr Coxall said Stark should not face a prison sentence as it would take her away from her children and argued that it served “no justice whatsoever” to imprison her.

Stark, who is unemployed, admitted one charge of being drunk in charge of child under the age of seven, and another of driving over the limit.

Sentencing her at Medway Magistrates’ Court this week, Kevin Sivell said: “Mrs Stark, this is serious, isn’t it. We are sympathetic in some ways of your drinking and your postnatal depression.

“With the amount of drink you took and to have children in the car, we feel there is no other option than a custodial sentence but it will be suspended.”

When the sentence was read out, there were gasps from Stark and her husband, who was sitting in the public gallery.

She was given a 90-day sentence, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to do 120 hours work in the community.

Mr Sivell added: “I think you should consider yourself lucky you are not going to prison.

“We hope that what we’ve put in place will help you, and some of the things you’ve done yourself will help you, and the support of your family will help as well because you’ll need that in overcoming some of the problems you face.”

Stark, who is from Woolwich, was also banned from driving for 36 months and ordered to pay £235 costs.