Woman who ran drink-drive awareness courses caught three times the limit

Photo: RICHARD LAPPAS (Telegraph)

Alison Baker who ran drink-drive awareness courses for more than 20 years has been banned from the road after being caught three times the limit.

She was caught after Devon Greening saw her stumbling into the garage store (where he worked behind the counter) for a second time at 10.30am to buy a second bottle of wine. He said she smelt strongly of alcohol and he was so concerned she might hurt someone that he called the police.

Officers quickly turned up at Baker's home and she was so drunk she had to grip walls and furniture to stand. She told police she had only had a "gulp" of wine, but recorded a reading of 104mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath - three times the legal limit

Baker, from Exeter, Devon, denied drink-driving and blamed the high reading on post-driving consumption.

After a trial at Exeter Magistrates' Court, district judge Stephen Nicholls convicted her of drink-driving and banned from her from the roads before she is sentenced next month.

Prosecutor Sarah Hornblower said the high reading was not contested by Baker, who claimed she was under the limit of 35mg of alcohol when she drove that morning in her Chevrolet Kalos.

The court heard Baker used alcohol for pain relief for arthritis and had problems with her knees, legs and wrist.

Giving evidence, Baker said she drank herself into "oblivion" as she self-medicated and would drink until she passed out.

She hid the empty bottles of wine, including in the equipment she used for her drink-drive awareness courses.

Baker, who ran courses for Devon County Council for 20 years, said in a previous interview about drink-driving: "The realities of life without a driving licence can be difficult to bear - some people lose everything."