A WOMAN caught drink-driving in her dressing gown has been banned from driving for three years.

Katie Savage, aged 23, of Tavern Orchard, Warndon Villages, Worcester, told magistrates that she was giving her boyfriend a lift to see his cousin at just after 5am when police pulled her over.

Worcester magistrates were told that Savage had been caught drink-driving before. Giving her the longer ban due to her previous conviction, district judge Nigel Cadbury advised her to use the money from the sale of her car to pay off her debt to the court.

Savage admitted drink-driving in her Citroen Saxo at the Bull Ring, St John’s, Worcester, on March 25.

Owen Beale, prosecuting, said officers were on patrol in Worcester when they saw Savage in the centre lane of New Road, veering across the line and braking unnecessarily. He said: “It was very clear she had been drinking and she failed the roadside test.”

The reading used for evidence was 52mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, the legal limit being 35mcg.

Because it was her second drink-driving offence in the last 10 years she was told she faced a longer driving ban.

Edward Gaynor-Smith, defending, said it was just after 5am in the morning when she was pulled over by police.

He said: “She was in her night clothes with her dressing gown on. She had been drinking with friends the previous day in the afternoon.” He said she was woken by her boyfriend, who could not drive, who had received a telephone call from his cousin claiming he had been assaulted at 3am. Mr Gaynor-Smith said her boyfriend asked her if she could give him a lift to see his cousin which was when they were stopped by police.

He told the court: “It’s an error of judgement on her behalf. Obviously loss of transport is going to hurt her but the fault is hers and she accepts that.”

District judge Nigel Cadbury said: “I think you may want to use the proceeds from the sale [of the car] to pay off these fines because they have been outstanding for two years.”

He imposed a 36-month driving ban and imposed a fine of £110, costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £20. He warned her that if she drove while banned she risked imprisonment.