A successful lawyer who was nearly four times the drink-driving limit when stopped on the A55 has been freed after serving just 13 days in prison. Louise Taylor, who was given a 10-week jail sentence on October 8, won her appeal and was released after less than two weeks behind bars.
Taylor's Range Rover was seen veering 'all over the road' after she consumed a friend's homemade Kombucha tea, which she said she did not believe was alcoholic. Her breath-alcohol count was 135mg, against the legal limit of 35mg.
During proceedings at Mold Crown Court, Judge David Hale acknowledged Taylor had been going through a stressful time, as her mother was receiving end-of-life support in a care home. She was due to see her mother for the first time in 13 months on the night she was arrested.
Judge Hale said: 'All three of us take the view we would have suspended the sentence because she has no previous convictions. There's no history of alcoholism.' The court heard that Taylor had ignored a pursuing police car for six miles, but there was no accident.
The judge suspended the remaining eight weeks of the sentence, saying it would achieve no purpose, and ordered her immediate release. A 32-month driving ban was imposed, which can be reduced by completing a drink-drivers' course.
Barrister Jade Tufail, for Taylor, said the single mother was a successful solicitor with no previous convictions, earning more than £66,000 a year as a corporate lawyer for a bank.
