Saphfire Angel Erihe-Schaeffer, Ipswich, restrained, sedated, after wild New Year DUI

A meth-addicted driver had a spectacular New Year relapse, ended with her being restrained and sedated by five emergency officers in the middle of an intersection, a court heard.

Saphfire Angel Erihe-Schaeffer. Picture: Archive

An Ipswich woman has been jailed after her a New Year drug relapse spiralled into an erratic and dangerous morning drive which saw her restrained in the middle of a road.

Redbank Plains resident Saphfire Angel Erihe-Schaeffer, 21, pleaded guilty in Ipswich Magistrates’ Court on May 3 to driving under the influence of liquor, driving without a licence (disqualified by court order) and possession of a knife in a public place.

Erihe-Schaeffer appeared via video link from jail, where she has been in custody since the incident.

The court heard she fell back into drug use at a New Year’s Eve party at the start of this year.

On January 4, police received reports that Erihe-Schaeffer was “driving erratically” in Silkstone about 10am.

Magistrate Leanne Scoines said the woman had driven with “quite a cocktail of drugs” in her system including amphetamine, methamphetamine, droperidol (a prescription drug) and GHB.

The court heard Erihe-Schaeffer came to an “abrupt stop in the middle of an intersection” in Silkstone after she realised the drugs were affecting her driving.

Ms Scoines said witnesses were very concerned as Erihe-Schaeffer appeared to be having a drug-related seizure in the driver's seat.

An ambulance was called and police arrived soon after.

Ms Scoines said police observed Erihe-Schaeffer to be “grossly affected” by drugs and that she “seemed unable to control her body”.

They also found a large knife in the driver’s seat of her car.

Ms Scoines said Erihe-Schaeffer was “violently throwing her arms and legs around” and needed to be physically restrained by three paramedics and two police officers, before being sedated and taken to hospital.

Ms Scoines said Erihe-Schaeffer was “incredibly lucky that she didn’t kill herself or somebody else on the road.”

“You can’t unring ring that bell once that’s happened – and it happens every day out on the roads.”

Defence lawyer Richard Zande said his client had borrowed the car from a friend and that the knife found in the car belonged to that friend.

He said his client still accepted it was technically in her possession at the time she was driving.

Mr Zande said his client struggled with addiction the meth and had been trying to distance herself from the drug before the New Years relapse.

He said she had stopped driving, albeit in a dangerous place, as soon as she realised she was affected by the drugs she had taken.

The court heard Erihe-Schaeffer had relevant history of disqualified and dangerous driving.

Ms Scoines said was also alarming Erihe-Schaeffer already had a seven-page criminal history at her age.

Mr Zande provided the court with a “heartfelt” letter of apology which the court heard acknowledged she needed to “break the cycle”.

Ms Scoines acknowledged Erihe-Schaeffer seemed to have an “emerging awareness” of “how serious the territory that she’s in” and was eager to get back into the community.

“But I can’t ignore this history that she had of getting in cars and doing things that are wholly unlawful,” she said.

She sentenced Erihe-Schaeffer to three months’ jail, wholly suspended for nine months, and a nine-month probation order.

Her 63 days in presentence custody were taken into account but not formally declared as time-served.

She was further disqualified from driving for two years and six months.

Convictions were recorded.