Drink-driving mum-of-five with no lights on in Wigston was 3 times the limit
A drink-driving mum-of-five told police she had a glass of wine earlier in the day before blowing a reading three times the limit. Leicestershire Police officers had been on patrol at night in Wigston when they saw Ranjeeta Matharoo's Mini Cooper heading down Bull Head Street with no lights on on Friday, April 12.
They pulled her over on Winslow Drive and she gave a roadside reading of 110 microgrammes per 100ml of breath - the legal limit is 35 microgrammes. She was arrested and taken to a police station where further tests took place, providing a lower reading of 101 microgrammes, which the magistrates based their punishment on.
At Leicester Magistrates' Court on Monday she pleaded guilty to drink-driving. Prosecutor Richard Holt told the court: "The police had noticed she didn't have lights on so they pulled her over. They could smell intoxicants and she said she had a glass of wine earlier in the evening."
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Rachel Diorio, representing Matharoo, 38, told the court her client was the mother of five children aged 17 months to 14 years and on the evening of the offence she had been asked by the father of her children to bring various items that he needed from her while he was looking after the children. She was driving from her home in Steeple Close, Wigston, to drop off the items for the father.
Ms Diorio said Matharoo, who works part-time as an optician at Specsavers, was struggling financially due to the children's father recently having lost his job. She added that life would be hard for Matharoo without a driving licence since both her parents were dead, so she had little support in caring for her children.
The magistrates banned Matharoo from driving for two years. They also fined her £230 and ordered her to pay £85 court costs and a £92 victim surcharge.