Before getting detained at a McDonald’s drive-through, a BOOZED-UP mother took her son to the beach when she was FOUR TIMES the drink-drive limit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After travelling from Merseyside to north Wales, Sadie Smith, 47, was recorded on dashcam film driving so recklessly that she ploughed through a roundabout and into a grass verge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was “nothing short of sheer luck” that she didn’t cause a serious accident, according to source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith sobbed as her family sat by her side as the court saw video of her nearly hitting with a traffic sign while driving with her son in the car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith had been drinking the night before, according to prosecutor Helen Tench.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When a worried member of the public observed a Saab Index being driven “erratically” on the A548 in Flintshire around lunchtime on March 19, they alerted the police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith was detained after being discovered “stumbling around the drive-through” and “slurring her words” at a McDonald’s on the Flint Retail Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She gave a breath measurement of 139 micrograms of alcohol per 100 milliliters of breath when she was apprehended. 35mcg is the legal limit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dashcam footage of the mother-of-one veering across roadways before landing on the grass edge of a roundabout was shown in court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith, of Centurion Drive in Meols, Wirral, Merseyside, then proceeded to drive along the A548 towards Flint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mitigating, Stephen Edwards stated that this was a “huge wake-up call” for his client.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He stated that she had been using alcohol “as a crutch” to deal with challenges in her life that had been going on for “a number of years.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith had faced the strains of being a single mother during the Covid-19 pandemic, juggling the sudden necessity to work from home while also educating her small son, he told the court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This, along with other reasons, caused her to “hit the bottle.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith “obviously” wasn’t thinking about the repercussions of her actions that day, according to Tracey Flavell of the probation department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said that she was “putting her son first” by “trying to do something pleasant for him.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith has “find it difficult to ask for help,” she added, but is now seeking help from her community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The court also heard how Smith’s 23-year career was cut short due to the felony accusation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith’s conduct were labelled “hazardous” by Justice Jacqui Jones, who sentenced her to a 12-month community service term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n