A woman has been sentenced for drink driving which involved crashing into a car while children were with her.

Sally Evans, 41, was five micrograms away from crossing the custody threshold but magistrates instead gave her a 12-month community order and disqualified her from driving for four years.

She was more than three times the legal limit (35mcgms) after the lowest breathalyser reading revealed she had 115 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. 

Chair of the magistrates’ bench Anthony Jackson told the Meifod woman that her actions "endangered life".

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Prosecutor Julia Galston told Welshpool Magistrates' Court on Tuesday (October 15) that a driver followed Evans after she pulled out in front of him near Meifod Primary School at around 8.30am.

Evans' Vauxhall Astra wasn't speeding, the prosecutor said, but was seen driving "all over the road" clipping the verge on a number of occasions.

As the car approached a narrow section of a bridge along the A490, it drifted and hit the near side of the bridge and kept going until a head-on collision with an oncoming vehicle. The children suffered a cut lip and bruising in the collision.

The court was told that Evans had previous convictions for drink driving where she received a suspended sentence in 2010 and community order in 2017.

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Robert Hanratty, acting on behalf of Evans, said: "99.9 per cent of the time she is a law-abiding citizen. Historically there have been issues associated with drink but for seven years nothing had arisen.

"She consumed alcohol very many hours before making the decision to drive. She was astounded to find a high level of alcohol.

"I would urge a period of disqualification to no more than three years. Meifod is a very rural location. She will have a very significant dependence on others. That is significant dependence to conduct routine tasks."

Mr Hanratty added: "There was a collision. It was a poor decision to drive that day. It was a very slow collision with no notable injuries.

"Sally is very much a quiet, reserved person and a law-abiding citizen. It is unfortunate to find Sally in the position she is in today."

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Evans, of Eirianfa, Meifod, was ordered to complete 25 rehabilitation requirement days which includes engagement with Kaleidoscope, budgeting courses and relapse prevention as part of her community order. She must also wear an alcohol monitoring tag for 80 days and pay the court £199.

Chair of the magistrates' bench Anthony Jackson told the mum-of-two: "You caused a collision endangering life.

"This is your third conviction of drink driving. You were almost at the custody threshold."

He added: "This is your third time don’t make it a fourth.

"This is an opportunity to use the support to help you get back on the road in terms of your life and we wish you well with that."