Drink-drive woman had child in car

Welshpool Magistrates Court heard on Tuesday how Rebecca Billington, 36, was stopped by police in Newtown at 11.30am, and found to be more than twice the limit, with three people, including a child in her car.

Billington, of Gas Street, Newtown, admitted a drink drive charge at court, and was sentenced to a community order and a driving ban of nearly two years.

Prosecutor Helen Tench told the court how officers spotted Billington’s car at 11.30am on January 3 on Llanidloes Road, and she was pulled over.

Officers noted how she refused to give a voluntary breath test, and due to her demeanour, she was arrested and taken to the police station for a breath test.

They also noted that Billington had three passengers in the car and one of them was a child.

She gave a breath sample of 92 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Billington did not give an interview, and Mrs Tench said due to the reading given, the offence had crossed into the bracket of a community order.

Robert Hanratty, for Billington, said she had given full co-operation.

She did not realise she would be over the limit, and it wasn’t her standard of driving that had caught the attention of the officers, said Mr Hanratty.

He handed magistrates a note setting out the health problems his client suffers.

Billington was made subject to a nine-month community and banned from driving for 23 months. In addition, she was fined £100 and ordered to pay £85 costs and an £85 victim surcharge.