A 25-YEAR-OLD woman who crashed into parked vehicles while driving the wrong way down a one-way street under the influence of alcohol has been disqualified from driving for two-and-a-half years.
Teresa Fenlon was sentenced to 120 hours of community service, fined £600 and given a nine-month probation order as a result of the incident earlier this year, which happened after a drinking session in St James’s Wine Bar.
After being stopped by States police, Fenlon was found to be in possession of half an MDMA tablet and 0.5 grams of cannabis resin. She also pleaded guilty to driving a defective Audi A3.
Advocate Katie Ridley, prosecuting, told the Magistrate’s Court yesterday that shortly after 11pm on 29 May, the police received a report that Fenlon’s car had crashed into parked vehicles after driving the wrong way down Chevalier Road. The Audi subsequently drove away and the defendant was later seen getting out of the vehicle after it was parked in nearby St Mark’s Road.
Advocate Ridley said that when an officer spoke to Fenlon, she appeared to be in a ‘distressed state, unsteady on her feet and smelt of alcohol’.
She failed a roadside breath test and was arrested on suspicion of driving while above the legal alcohol limit.
Fenlon was interviewed on 30 May and made full admissions to all charges, the court heard.
She told officers she had drunk a lot that night and decided to drive home as she did not want to wait for a lift.
A DVS report on her vehicle found that one of the front tyres was 1.6mm below the legal tread limit.
Advocate Rui Tremoceiro, defending, said that Fenlon had been fully co-operative throughout the process and had shown ‘genuine remorse’ for her actions.
He told the court that the incident was out of character and that she was willing and able to perform a community service order.
Delivering his sentence, Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris said he was giving Fenlon the chance to avoid prison and encouraged her to use the probation order to help with her substance misuse.
