Drunk driver took cocaine 'to help concentration'

A woman who was trying to drunkenly drive home after a bingo night took cocaine “to help her concentration”, a court has heard.

Samantha Doherty, 34, then lost control of her BMW at a sharp left hand turn and ploughed the car into a garden wall in Huyton, Knowsley.

Liverpool Crown Court heard the car was written-off but neither she nor her three passengers, who were also intoxicated, were injured.

The mother-of-two was given a 14-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and was banned from driving for three years after admitting dangerous driving and drink and drug driving.

The court heard Doherty, of Millom Avenue in Rainhill, was found to be nearly double the drink driving limit and twice the driving limit for cocaine.

Derek Jones, prosecuting, said Doherty was driving along Sussex Road in Huyton with her sister and two cousins on 11 February when the BMW X3 was spotted by a police patrol car.

The officer clocked her speed at between 80-90 mph and began to follow the car along York Road, which has a 30mph speed limit.

When Doherty reached a T-junction with Longview Drive she lost control and hit the small garden wall, demolishing it.

Doherty wiped away tears in the dock as Matthew Buckland, defending, said she had no previous convictions and was “a stay-at-home mum".

He told the court: “She is thoroughly ashamed of her conduct and to be here today."

Judge Ian Harris, passing sentence, said Doherty was "incompetent to drive" so her passengers had offered her cocaine to aid her concentration.

“It is a potentially lethal cocktail to have in your system while behind the wheel of a powerful car," he told her.

Doherty was ordered to complete 120 hours unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation activity days with the Probation Service.

Judge Harris added: "The irony is that you were out celebrating your late grandmother’s life.

"The reality is you could have easily ended your life and the lives of others."

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