A motorist who was pulled over for driving erratically claimed the smell of alcohol on her breath was due to cooking beef bourguignon, a court has heard.
Erratic Driving on London Road
Victoria Chesworth, 46, was swerving between lanes in her red Toyota Yaris on London Road in Stoke on July 18 when police stopped her. Officers detected a smell of alcohol and attempted a breathalyser test, but she was unable to complete it. A small amount of powder was found in the back of her car.
She was taken to the police station, where a drug test revealed she had 45 micrograms per litre of cocaine in her blood, well over the legal limit of 10 micrograms per litre. She also had 800 micrograms per litre of benzoylecgonine, a cocaine breakdown product, which is 16 times the legal limit.
Court Hearing
At North Staffordshire Justice Centre, prosecutor Sherrie Henry said officers saw the vehicle driving erratically shortly after 11pm, repeatedly swerving between lanes. Chesworth, representing herself, claimed her interim driving ban had left her struggling financially and with transport, and appealed for leniency.
She tearfully told the court: 'The swerving in and out of lanes, I disagree with, because I was following the one-way system. I believed the van behind me was getting too close. I didn't realise it was the police. They could smell wine on me because I had made a beef bourguignon earlier that evening. I struggled to do the breath test because I had a stroke last year. I agreed to do the blood test. The white powder they found in the car is a drug I take to manage my stroke symptoms.'
Sentence
Magistrates imposed a 17-month driving ban, a 12-month community order with 20 rehabilitation days, and ordered her to pay £239 costs. Chesworth, from Blurton, had pleaded guilty to two counts of drug-driving.
