Ipswich woman banned from the roads after being caught four times over the drink-drive limit
She was arrested after falling out of her car and over a garden wall
An Ipswich woman has been handed a driving ban after being caught four times over the drink drive limit last year.
52 year old Joanne Clements, of Hampton Road, was behind the wheel of a Nissan Micra which was seen to run a red light at a junction on Henley Road on December 10 2022.
The car came to a stop near Bramford Road, at which point the driver fell out of the car and over a garden wall.
Joanne Clements was found at the scene by officers and failed a roadside breath test. She was charged with having 130 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath (the legal limit is 35mg in 100ml of breath).
She later admitted to police that she'd started drinking at 2pm the same day, drinking half a litre of vodka.
Clements admitted to driving with excess alcohol and driving without due care and attention at Ipswich Magistrates' Court and was disqualified from driving for 32 months.
She was also told to complete nine-months of alcohol treatment, 25 days of rehabilitation activity and pay fines and costs totalling £259.
Civilian Investigator Richard Fox, who interviewed Clements in custody, said: “It is staggering that someone would get behind the wheel of a car having consumed so much alcohol they could barely walk when they got home.
“This is then compounded by the fact that Joanne Clements had been undertaking her work caring for elderly and vulnerable people whilst clearly in no fit state.
"It is incredibly fortunate that no one came to any harm as a result of her actions.
“This incident occurred 10 days into our annual Christmas campaign highlighting the dangers of drink-driving.
"It is one of the ‘Fatal 4’ main causes of death and serious injury on our roads, but unfortunately - as proven in this case - there are still far too many people taking unnecessary and reckless risks with the lives of others.”