Drink-driver carer crashed into bridge

Samantha Evans, 23, of Bryn Ddu Road, Llanidloes, had been out celebrating at Llanidloes Carnival, drinking a number of pints of lager topped up with lemonade.

But when she went to board her minibus home, Evans was not allowed to get on because it was full, so instead chose to drive.

But as she headed through the village of Tylwch, near Llanidloes, in the early hours of July 13 she crashed into a stone bridge.

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Evans, who was not hurt in the incident, admitted a charge of drink-driving at Welshpool Magistrates Court yesterday. She was banned from driving for 17 months and fined £110.

She was also ordered to pay a £20 victim surcharge and £85 costs.

Mr Matthew Ellis, prosecuting, said it was the early hours of the morning when police were called by a member of the public to a suspected drink-driver on the B4518.

He said: "A woman had been at home when she heard the sound of a car hitting the bridge. The defendant came to the house for help and the resident could smell alcohol, so she called the police.

"Soon, police and fire crews arrived to make the vehicle safe and the defendant gave a positive reading of 72 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35."

Mr Ellis said that in interview Evans told officers she had been drinking pints of lager spot – almost a whole pint of lager topped up with a dash of lemonade – before going to catch her minibus back home.

When she was not allowed on board she made the decision to drive instead.

Colonel Tim Van Rees, for Evans, said: "This is a real personal tragedy. She works as a carer and has had some upheaval with her job.

"On the night she had left her car in Llanidloes and was planning to catch a minibus home.

"When she got to it she was told there was no space and so she was left stranded. She panicked and decided against her better judgement to drive home."