A woman from the Goolma area who returned a breath analysis of 0.234 after other motorists reported her driving to police was sentenced in Mudgee Local Court for high-range drink driving.
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Kathleen May Anne Jones, of Gardiners Road, Goolma, was disqualified from driving for three months to be followed by a 24-month interlock period, placed on a 12-month community corrections order, and ordered to complete 50 hours of community service.
According to the police facts submitted to the court for sentence, at 6.10pm on July 22, 2020, other motorists contacted police to report Jones's manner of driving along the Great Western Highway at Faulconbridge.
When officers found the 59-year-old's vehicle they observed it drifting between the gutter and the middle of the lane before they stopped it.
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The roadside breath test was positive for alcohol, and Jones was taken to Springwood Police Station, where the breath analysis of 0.234 was recorded.
In Mudgee Local Court, the defendant's solicitor, Allan Hogan, said his client conceded "it's a very high reading" and that it had an effect on her ability to drive because that's what brought her to the attention of police.
Mr Hogan also said, "she can't express any more the level of her remorse".
Magistrate David Day said Jones had "demonstrated" remorse because the court heard she was seeking treatment for her use of alcohol.
However, Magistrate Day did reflect on the circumstances of the incident and the hazard that the defendant's actions posed.
"The reading was so high I requested a report prior to sentencing," he said.
"The danger to other members of the public was extreme, I'm surprised you were able to handle the motor vehicle."
