Mum, 39, caught driving four TIMES the limit with her two kids in the car after binge-drinking with pal the night before
A MUM has been banned from driving after putting her two young children in the back of her Audi while almost four times the alcohol limit.
Laura Lyons, 39, was found in a daze at the wheel of her Audi A6 after binge drinking with a pal the night before in Urmston, Greater Manchester.
Lyons was branded as “stupid” and “reckless” and “irresponsible” by Manchester Magistrates court.
The receptionist was arrested on January 15 after a reading showed she had 132 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.
She had been dropping off her two young sons to their grandmother’s house when she was pulled over by cops, after apparently suffering from a seizure.
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At Manchester Magistrates court Lyons, of Flixton, pleaded guilty to being drunk in charge of a car.
She was banned from driving for 32 months, and was ordered to complete a 12 months’ community order, 150 hours unpaid work and pay £180 in costs and surcharges.
Lyons is now getting counselling with alcohol recovery organisation Achieve, and is being supported by her husband Sean who runs a successful tattooing business which has features several times on TV.
Sentencing her, JP Joe Bangudu said: ''It stretches the imagination as to the reason why you took such a stupid, unrealistic and reckless decision to get behind the wheel after consuming so much alcohol. It is way too much.
“We struggled here, I will be honest with you, and there is no reason why a custodial sentence should not be handed out to you for this totally unacceptable behaviour.
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“The decision you took was reckless, foolish and irresponsible. You should never make a decision like this ever again.
“You put people’s lives in danger including your own children, anything could have happened in that short distance. Do not even think about driving again whilst you are disqualified. Do I make myself clear?”
Lyons told the hearing: “I am extremely sorry what has happened. It is out of character for me. I am sorry for everyone’s time, it definitely will not happen again.”
Prosecutor Catherine Allan previously told the court : “It was January 15th 2022 when the police attended Stretford Road in Urmston. An ambulance had been called to attend to the defendant.
''She was in the driver's seat of the motor vehicle and she had been carrying passengers but the car had stopped.
"It seemed she driving her children but pulled over because she had a seizure, an ambulance was called who then rang the police.
''She failed a breath test and was then arrested. She has no previous convictions.”
'DISTRESSED & UPSET'
Defending Lyons, Edgar Fernando said that she had been “distressed and upset” about the case.
He added: “The night before she had been drinking with a friend and the next day she was going to drop her children off at her mothers.
''She has then driven the car a short distance and has then had a seizure or an issue where she could not drive. She pulled over and has callled her mother to collect the children.
"She did not continue driving after that and there is no suggestion she trying to evade the police. It was the defendant's mother who called for an ambulance.
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“She is not drinking at all anymore and takes Antabuse, which means if she drinks any alcohol, it makes her feel very unwell.”
Lyons will also be offered a place on a drink driving rehabilitation course.
