Yahoo News 'Loophole laywer' who specialises in driving offences escapes jail after telling judge her daughter is a victim of cyber bullying
A lawyer who specialises in defending "loophole-style" motoring cases has escaped jail for drink driving after she told the court her daughter was a victim of cyber bullying.
Helen Dugdale, 48, was spotted zig-zagging along a main road in Birkenhead during the evening rush hour of June 29 whilst at the wheel of her Honda Jazz car.
Eye witnesses said the vehicle - which also had two flat tyres - had to swerve around the road to avoid crashing into pedestrians before Dugdale eventually pulled to the side.
Police called by a concerned taxi driver attended the scene and found the lawyer to be unsteady on her feet, slurring her words and smelling of alcohol. Tests showed she had 63 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.
At Manchester magistrates court Dugdale, of Liverpool, admitted drink driving but escaped with a three year ban and a £650 fine after claiming she had been drinking heavily as her 12-year old daughter had been self harming due to being targeted by cyber bullies.
In 2013 she was given an 18 month ban and fined £800 after she was seen driving her Mercedes having earlier staggered out of a wine bar.
The lawyer had been a partner at Liverpool law practice DDE Law and was described as having a "niche speciality" in motoring law with a "vast knowledge" of dealing with drink driving cases.
This could have resulted in a custodial sentence but we have decided against that after taking everything into account.
Magistrate Richard Lenderyou
She left the firm after her first drink driving conviction and has since been working as a consultant for a different practice, where she deals with "all the motoring law problems", according to her LinkedIn profile.
In a personal plea to JPs, she wiped tears away and said: "A number of matters came together all at one, and it was the culmination of a very difficult two years - I can't begin to tell you how difficult that was.
"I wish that I could turn the clock back but it was something that happened because of things that were going on in my personal life. It's not something that will happen again. I have been therapy and it's working well. I am asking for leniency."
Passing sentence magistrate Richard Lenderyou told Dugdale: "This could have resulted in a custodial sentence but we have decided against that after taking everything into account."
