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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Douglas Whitbread

Drink driver, 33, spared jail as abusive boyfriend forced her to get behind the wheel

A woman at the wheel of BMW that was "swerving in and out of lanes" tested almost four times the alcohol limit - but has been spared jail.

Katie McFadden, 33, faced a prison sentence after admitting drink driving, but she was instead given a 12-month community order as she claimed her boyfriend had forced her to drive after she'd drunk white wine.

She said she was in a "coercive" relationship and that her now ex-partner had "thrown the key" of the 1 series car at her before he got into the passengers seat.

McFadden, from Wythenshawe in Manchester, had only driven 200 yard along a dual carriageway near her home when police spotted the BMW driving erratically.

Tests showed she had 130 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

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McFadden admitted drink driving at Manchester Magistrates Court (Katie McFadden/ Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)

At Manchester magistrates' court, McFadden admitted her offence, which occurred on March 12 this year at around 11.30pm.

Prosecutor Steve Woodman said: "The officers noticed the BMW had poor lane discipline and was swerving in and out of lanes.

"The officers followed the vehicle to a petrol station where they saw it pull up at a cash machine.

"A male got out and used the cash machine and the police then followed the car for a short distance before using their emergency equipment to pull it over.

McFadden was spared jail as she said she was in a 'violent and coercive relationship' (Katie McFadden/ Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)

"Miss McFadden was in the driver's seat and the officers could smell intoxicants on her breath.

"She accepted she had drunk a glass of wine earlier that night and failed a roadside breath test. Miss McFadden has no previous convictions."

In mitigation defence lawyer Jon Mail told the hearing: "She was cooperative with police both at the roadside and at the police station.

"She is mortified that she drove while intoxicated and is fully aware of the dangers and consequences of her actions.

She said she was 'mortified' that she drove while intoxicated (Katie McFadden/ Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)

"She is deeply remorseful and ashamed and has lost her good character. At the time, she with in a relationship that was both violent and coercive. The other person in the car was her then boyfriend.

"She had only driven a matter of 200 yards which she could have walked but he told her to drive and threw the car keys at her. She had other options, but she did drive the vehicle.

"That relationship is over now. Police are aware of the incident between her ex-partner and Mrs McFadden but she says this is no excuse for her behaviour.

"She is just extremely grateful that nobody was injured. She sold the car straight away. She did not want anything to do with it. "

Mr Mail added: "She is not working at the moment and gets universal credit of £603 per month but there is an offer of a job which she expects to take up in the next week or so. She doesn't need a driving license to do that job.

"This whole incident has been traumatic and very scary for her."

McFadden was also ordered to complete 150 hours unpaid work and pay £95 costs. She was banned from driving for 30 months.

JP Dario Cottingham told her: "The guidelines for such an offence start at a custodial sentence, which you have probably been told.

"However, we are taking account of your early guilty plea and everything we've been told by Mr Mail."

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