Shrewsbury woman who crashed BMW after drinking then went home gets large fine and long ban

Roxanne Wallace, 27, admitted she had had "nothing to eat all day", was on "strong painkillers" and "didn't realise how much [she] had had to drink" at a friend's bar when she decided to drive home on the night of September 15 this year.

At a hearing at Telford Magistrates Court in October, Wallace admitted a charge of driving while over the alcohol limit.

At 8.40pm on September 15, police were called to New Park Road in Shrewsbury where a two-car crash had been reported.

The court heard in October that police were called by a man whose car had been hit by a BMW.

He was driving in New Park Road when he noticed a "vehicle was veering to the middle of the road and nearly collided with the vehicle in front of his car", prosecutor Sara Beddow told the court.

"The BMW, driven by the defendant, kept veering towards his vehicle and collided with the driver/front side and wing of his Toyota Carolla."

The BMW drove off while the man whose car had been hit phoned West Mercia Police.

Officers went looking for the BMW and found it nearby. The defendant was nowhere to be found but her driving licence was inside the car, leading the officers to her home address about 20 metres away.

Police visited and found Wallace, who cooperated with their enquiries and attended a police station to complete a breathalyser test.

The lower reading showed 96mg of alcohol per 100mg of breath - the legal driving limit is 35mg per 100ml.

She was charged with drink driving and pleaded guilty in October.

On Tuesday Wallace, of Queen Street in Shrewsbury, was sentenced at Telford Magistrates Court for drink driving.

District Judge Ian Barnes imposed a driving ban of 25 months. Wallace was offered the opportunity to complete a drink drive rehabilitation course to reduce the disqualification period by 25 weeks.

The judge also ordered Wallace to pay a fine of £923, £135 towards prosecution costs and a £369 victim surcharge, totalling £1,427.