A DRINK drive mum was nearly three times the limit when staff from a Worcester academy dialled 999, worried she was about to drive away with her child in the car.

Tracy Adkins of Avon Road, Worcester, admitted drink driving when she appeared before magistrates in Worcester on Thursday. The 42-year-old drove to the school in Edgeworth Close, Worcester, in her Renault Megane. Officers arrived at around 5pm on February 11 this year after she was reported to police by staff at Oasis Academy who dialled 999.

Shawn Williams, prosecuting, said they had been concerned she might leave the school with her child in the car after an appointment. She failed a roadside breath test and told officers she had had ‘a couple of shots’ and mixed mango juice with vodka from a water bottle.

The evidential reading was 99mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, more than 2.8 times the limit of 35mcg. Mr Williams said she argued she had consumed the alcohol after driving but police consulted a forensic scientist who calculated that, if she had drunk what she said she had drunk, the reading would only have been 16mcg at that time. “She was prevaricating with the police” said Mr Williams.

The court heard that the defendant had no previous convictions. Paul Stanley, defending, said she had been collecting her child from an after-school club. He said it was right she had some alcohol with her in a plastic bottle but this would not have been seen on the CCTV as it was in her handbag.

He told magistrates his client had suffered ‘a number of misfortunes in her life’, including the breakdown of her marriage to her husband who was now involved with someone else.

“That’s a marriage where, regrettably, she suffered mental and physical domestic violence. He was very controlling.”

He also said she was in debt and ‘still owes a considerable amount of money’ but ‘finds solace in her drinking’.

She works full time as a transport administrative officer and finance officer for a transport company which provides escort facilities to vulnerable adults and children. Magistrates fined her £311 and ordered her to pay costs of £135 and a victim surcharge of £478. They banned her from driving for 23 months.

They offered her the drink drive course which, if completed successfully, will reduce the ban by 23 weeks.