Wigan drink-driver spared road ban because she was on a 999 mercy dash

Suzanne Thomas, 42, of Wrenbury Close, Pemberton, appeared before borough justices to plead guilty to giving a reading of 79 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath when a police patrol approached her at the wheel of a Ford Kuga and tested her on March 11.

Under normal circumstances being found more than twice the drink-drive limit would land a motorist with an automatic ban.

But the bench took the mitigating conditions into account and instead put nine penalty points on her licence.

The chair of the justices told her: "A responsible, reasonable and sober person present at the scene but who themselves could not drive would not have advised the defendant to wait for an ambulance, taxi or to elicit help from others, they would have advised her to drive."

But she had still committed an offence, hence the points.

The defendant was also ordered to pay a fine, court costs and a victim services surcharge totalling £349.