A prolific drink-driver described as a “lethal weapon” who crashed her car after consuming several glasses of vodka has received a suspended prison sentence.
Fiona Presley, 45, a cleaner, of Beaconsfield Road in Brighton, was arrested in Ditchling Road, Brighton, on 23 December, after the vehicle she was driving collided with the central reservation, causing extensive damage.
She was charged with driving with 126mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath in her system.
She pleaded guilty at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on 11 January, where she was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison, suspended for 24 months. She was also disqualified from driving for 60 months, and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £80 victim surcharge.
Presley received a suspended sentence due to the severity of the offence and her previous convictions – she was also convicted of drink-driving in October 2002 and March 2008.
Chief Inspector Phil Nicholas said: “This is the third time Presley has been convicted of drink-driving and it is clear that she has not learnt from her mistakes.
“She is a menace on the roads when she has been drinking and a lethal weapon in those circumstances, as she could have killed someone. She is fortunate not to have sustained serious injuries herself.
“Presley fully admitted to having four glasses of vodka and Fanta before she got behind the wheel, and gave a roadside breath test reading which was almost four times the legal limit.
“Sussex will be a safer place without her on the roads, and the length of her sentence reflects the seriousness of the offence.”
People in Sussex can text officers on 65999 with the details of people they suspect of drink or drug driving or visit www.operationcrackdown.co.uk.
You can also contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 (www.crimestoppers-uk.org).
If you know someone is driving while over the limit or after taking drugs call 999.
What a ghastly woman. What is the point of her? She has no concern for the fact that her behaviour could have had human flesh cremated and the remaining bones then fed into the granulator (including her own). She should think hard about what she will do with her remaining days on Earth (probably no more than 9000 of therm, and the clock is ticking).