A woman who drove from Cowes to East Cowes whilst drunk was caught when a taxi driver spotted her poor driving and followed her home, at the same time that their passenger alerted Police.
54-year-old Chantal Andrea Louise Reed, of Cavalier Quay in East Cowes, appeared before the Isle of Wight Magistrates Court on Tuesday charged with drink driving (88 microgrammes) – an offence she pleaded guilty to at the first opportunity.
The court heard how Reed was arrested by Police during the early hours of 23rd May after members of the public alerted officers to a suspected drink driver on the roads.
Liz Miller, prosecuting, explained to the court that a taxi driver and passenger spotted a silver Mazda driving poorly whilst travelling from Cowes to East Cowes via Newport at 02:47. The taxi followed the car whilst the passenger called Police on 999 to report the crime in progress.
Reed stopped her vehicle several times and confronted the occupants of the taxi, claiming she had broken down. She was unaware that they had alerted the authorities. With Police still en route to the area, the taxi followed Reed to her final destination – her home at Cavalier Quay. It’s here that Police arrested the 54-year-old.
Defending, Reed’s solicitor Amy Hosell explained how it was her first time out in a year-and-a-half having strictly isolated during the coronavirus pandemic. Unemployed Reed was enjoying a night out with friends watching Eurovision and had intended to catch the chain ferry home to East Cowes. However, she blacked out and doesn’t remember why she didn’t catch the chain ferry, instead deciding to drive back home whilst 2-and-a-half times the drink-drive limit.
Reed’s solicitor told the court that she is embarrassed at her behaviour and acknowledges that she could have killed someone. It was also said that Chantal had since attended an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting for her overdrinking problem which stretches back 8 years.
Magistrates handed down a 22-month driving ban and ordered Chantal Reed, who has a property on the Island and in London, to pay a £300 fine, £85 costs and a surcharge of £34.
Unemployed YET can afford to get drunk daily. So WHO are these who ‘need’ food banks? Seems like they are getting too much money now.
Have you ever tried to find out what happens at foodbanks. People dont just turn up everday and get a handout. They have to be reffered and they can only claim under five times a year. You dont know that persons circumstances. What I do not agree with is drink driving and believe a zero tolerance should apply so there is no ambiguity about driving whislt having one drink.
Skippy have YOU ever tried to find out WHY some people who have EXACTLY the same benefits CAN manage to feed themselves and their benefit raised children, yet others can’t?
It comes down to peoples choices, the authorities pay the same to all if their circumstances are the same, and, as we know, the more offspring the more funds of taxpayers given.
So, there is only very rare circumstances that anyone would ever ‘need’ to use a food bank, due to unusual circumstances, so, most of us know it is bad management of tax payers funds by useless individuals that allows the majority to be ‘eligible’ to protect the ‘next’ generation wasters
Where does it say that she gets drunk daily….
Do you know her?
Who are you to make assumptions like this….
I am unemployed, I am not in receipt of benefits and never have been.
What she has done is terrible and I am sure she knows that ..
“She is very embarrassed and ashamed….”(her words in court).
all you picked out of this newspaper article is the negative…..
Your judgement of someone you don’t know is based on a few lines you read in the local paper….
Wow…. I would not want you as my friend….
Hopefully she will not read the comments.
If she does, then what she needs now is help… she is ill.
So please.. people… stop posting nasty comments. Instead post something that might help her or encourage her in her recovery.
Plenty of money then if she also has a property in London. The fine and costs will be nothing to her . She will probably be risking the lives of others again very soon by drunk driving. This fine is no punishment !!
Isn’t envy one of the seven deadly sins?
She blacked out and doesn’t remember why she didn’t catch the chain ferry…….could have something to do with her being piss*d as a newt, silly cow. In fact I am amazed the chain ferry was actually running……was it?!?!?!?!?
I know why she did it………………Floating bridge out of service
Good…. I’m glad she got caught. Anyone who drink drives deserves to be caught and have the book thrown at them. In my opinion, a ban that results from drink driving should be a lot longer. If the ban was, say ten years, it may act as more of a deterrent. I’ve nothing against going out and having a good time, but leave the car at home, quite simple really! In this particular case, as for the ‘I blacked out’ sounds like a feeble excuse in an attempt to gain sympathy. If it was a case of falling asleep after drinking too much, maybe she should have stayed wherever it was that she ‘blacked out’….
Attended Alcoholics Anonymous – not so anonymous now, is it…