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A drink driver was warned she could be facing jail after admitting to getting behind the wheel while over the legal limit for at least the third time.
Tiffany Wratten was spotted by police at the wheel of her Peugeot 208 in Station Road, Maidstone, in February “driving at excess speed” and going in a bus lane.
The 35-year-old was then pulled over and seemed to be slurring her words. She admitted to officers she’d had a can of vodka and lime but then, after falling over while trying to do the roadside breath test, she gave a reading twice the legal limit.
Wratten, who used to live in Burham, but is now of Tonbridge Road, Maidstone, was later charged and admitted drink driving when she appeared at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court on March 28.
The court heard Wratten gave a reading of 77 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the legal limit is 35.
The court was told it wasn’t the first time she’d been convicted of such an offence.
Deputy District Judge Julia Moffatt heard she had two previous convictions for drink driving and one for failing to provide a specimen for analysis.
Victoria Aked, prosecuting, said: “It was 10.40pm on February 12 and officers saw a vehicle driving at excess speed in Fairmeadow and then observed it being driven on a bus route and a female, Wratten, was the sole driver.
“She was stopped and apologised about driving in the bus lane and she was slurring her words, but told the officers she had a cold.
“She was asked if she’d had alcohol and said no, but then said she’d had a can of vodka and lime.
“It took a number of attempts to do a breath test. She fell over during the procedure and was unsteady on her feet . She gave a reading of 77 microgrammes.
“She has previous convictions for excess alcohol and these were in 2012 and 2015 and she also had a failure to provide from 2022 when she was given a ban and a suspended sentence and just six months after that [ban is over] she back doing it again.
“She has to be disqualified for a minimum of three years. She’s also had two convictions for driving without insurance.”
Anyone convicted of drink driving twice within a 10-year period faces a mandatory minimum driving ban of three years and faces the possibility of a prison sentence.
Simon Holmes, defending, said his client pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and had, before the 2022 offence, stayed out of trouble for at least five years.
He also said she had been at a house party that night but a fight had broken out.
Mr Holmes added: “She broke it up, but got an injury in the exchange of blows and was later taken to hospital and had two fractured ribs.
“She called the police [about the fight at the party] and decided to drive away from it as it spilled out onto the street.”
He also told the court Wratten was employed as a community support worker and helped people with mental disabilities and would find it hard to work without a driving licence.
Judge Moffatt told Wratten she would get a reduction in her sentence in due course due to her early guilty plea, but said she was ordering an “all options” pre-sentencing report to be completed on her before she determined what sentence she would give.
She added: “It will cover all options and I am not ruling out sending you to prison.”
Wratten will be sentenced over the matter on May 22 and was placed on an interim driving ban until then.
