Woman who crashed into granite wall found guilty of drink driving

Wednesday 04 July 2018

A 62-year-old woman who denied being drunk at the wheel after crashing into a granite wall has been found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol following a Magistrate's Court trial.

Jean Kathleen Richard pleaded not guilty to drink driving and said she had had brandy only after making it home following the collision last October.

She faced trial in Magistrate's Court in June for four driving offences including one count of dangerous driving which she was acquitted of. She was also acquitted of failing to notify the Drivers and Vehicle Standards of a change in her details, but was found guilty of failing to surrender her licence.

Summing up the prosecution case, Legal Adviser Susie Sharpe said that on the night of 8 October 2017, a witness had seen Richard driving erratically. He said she was continuously slowing down and speeding up. He also said that at some point, she was fully on the opposite side of the road, so much that he thought she had touched a boundary hedge.

Advocate Alexander English, defending, said Richard denied going over the middle line. She said she was slowing down when approaching the bends, which she described as being safer driving rather than dangerous.

Pictured: Ms Richard hit a granite wall in a car park in St. Ouen on her way home.

Ms Sharpe disputed Ms Richard's account that she had drunk alcohol at home and not before driving. If it had been the case and Ms Richard had drunk a "significant amount of straight brandy", she would have been "grossly intoxicated without the shadow of a doubt," she told Court.

Advocate English said Richard had drunk after arriving home, leading to her being above the limit when officers undertook a breathalyser test. "She did not drink on the Sunday. At the time of driving there was no alcohol in her system, unless there was some kind of wonder or some biological quirk," he said. 

Richard will appear in Court on 27 July for sentencing. In the meantime, the Assistant Magistrate, Peter Harris, has ordered a Social Enquiry Report.