Mother caught drink driving with baby in passenger seat
A 20-year-old mother was found driving after consuming double the legal alcohol limit
A 20-year-old mother who was caught drink-driving with her baby in the front passenger seat has been banned from driving for three years and handed a suspended prison sentence.
Alexandra Cave, of Balsham Road, Linton, was pulled over by police on the evening of 14 June after concerns were raised about her driving a black Volkswagen Fox while already disqualified.
Officers carried out a roadside breath test, which showed Cave was nearly twice the legal alcohol limit, recording 70 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35. A further evidential sample taken in custody showed a reading of 41 microgrammes.
Police also discovered that Cave’s 16-month-old child was sitting in the front passenger seat during the incident.
Cave appeared at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court yesterday (30 July), where she was sentenced after previously pleading guilty to drink-driving and driving while disqualified. She was disqualified from driving for three years and given a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.
The court heard that the combination of driving while over the limit, being disqualified, and endangering a young child by having them unrestrained in the front seat were all considered serious aggravating factors in the case.
PC Ruffell, from the Road Policing Unit, said: “Driving over the limit with a young child in the car is highly irresponsible. She has shown little regard for the welfare of her child and demonstrated a clear and blatant disregard for the law. Cave now faces the serious consequences of her actions.”