Nail technician caught almost three times over drink-drive limit avoids jail

'She began to panic about how she was going to get home and she made the foolish decision to drive.'

A businesswoman has been banned from driving after she was caught behind the wheel almost three times over the drink-drive limit.

Olivia Stokes was pulled over by police when they spotted the nail technician driving her Vauxhall Corsa erratically.

When officers stopped the 23-year-old, who calls herself ‘Queenie’, they smelled alcohol on her breath and found ‘two bottles of wine’ on the passenger seat.

Tests showed she had 99mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

Appearing at Stockport magistrates court, Stokes, from Northwich, Cheshire, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol.

The court heard she had got behind the wheel after finding herself unexpectedly stranded after a pub lock-in.

She had reportedly arranged to stay at a friend’s house in Knutsford but her mobile phone ‘died’ while she was retrieving work equipment from her car.

Claiming she was unable to contact her friend or remember where the friend lived, Stokes started driving but had barely traveled a mile before she was spotted.

Robin Lynch, prosecuting told the hearing police stopped Stokes on Northwich Road, shortly after 2am on January 7.

‘The vehicle accelerated very quickly, so officers stopped the vehicle to speak to the driver,’ he said.

‘There were two bottles of wine in the front passenger seat and officers could smell intoxicant on her breath.

‘She failed to give a breath test and was taken to the police station where her lowest reading was 99 mg. She is a lady of previous good character.’

Defending Stokes, Victoria Thompson said due to restrictions on Stoke’s profession the pandemic had been a ‘very difficult time’ in her life.

‘She owns her own business and because of Covid, she has not been able to work for a long period of time.

‘Hers was one of the last professions to return to work which has had a significant financial impact for her.

Miss Thompson said Stokes had been in Knutsford to see a client when she was invited out for a drink with friends she had not seen in a long time.

‘It was an opportunity to stay and catch up with her friends.

‘She contacted her mum to arrange for her to pick her up but as the evening progressed, they went to a bar and had a lock-in after opening hours.’

Miss Thompson, said after ‘recognising she should not have been drinking’ Stokes panicked and went to retrieve equipment she had left in her car because ‘it was not the best place to leave it’.

After her phone died Stokes returned to the bar ‘but she did not know where this particular friend lived and everything had closed’ the court heard.

‘She began to panic about how she was going to get home and she made the foolish decision to drive. She deeply regrets her actions,’ Miss Thompson said.

‘When she was stopped by the police she panicked. She was trying to give a sample but was not producing enough breath to get a reading.

‘The road she was driving on was a 30-mph limit which then leads to a national speed limit.

‘She had accelerated too early, and that was what led the officers to stop her. There was no other evidence of bad driving.’

Miss Thompson said it was ‘a blessing’ Stokes had been stopped and she was ‘horrified and deeply ashamed’ of her actions.

The court heard how Stokes planned to move to Jersey where she has family and had found a new job.

Stokes was banned from driving for 26 months, subjected to a 7pm-to-7am curfew and ordered to pay £180 in surcharges.

She was also offered a place on a drink driver’s rehabilitation course.

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