A motorist who was pulled over for driving erratically has blamed the smell of alcohol on cooking beef bourguignon. Victoria Chesworth, 46, was spotted swerving between lanes in her red Toyota Yaris on London Road in Stoke on July 18.
Police stopped her and detected an odour of alcohol. After failing to complete a breathalyser test, she was taken to a police station where a drug test revealed she was over the limit. Chesworth had 45 micrograms of cocaine per litre of blood, against a legal limit of 10, and 800 micrograms of benzoylecgonine, a cocaine breakdown product, which is 16 times the legal threshold.
At North Staffordshire Justice Centre, Chesworth claimed the officers had smelled wine because she had made a beef bourguignon meal earlier that evening. She also said she struggled with the breath test due to a stroke she suffered last year.
Prosecutor Sherrie Henry told the court that officers saw the defendant's car driving erratically along the A52 shortly after 11pm. A small amount of white powder was found in the back of the car, which Chesworth said was medication for her stroke symptoms.
Chesworth, from Blurton, pleaded guilty to two counts of drug-driving. Representing herself, she tearfully appealed for leniency, saying her interim driving ban had left her struggling financially and with transport. Magistrates imposed a 17-month driving ban, a 12-month community order with 20 rehabilitation days, and ordered her to pay £239 costs.
