Drink-driving mum who punched police officer pleads guilty
A DRINK-DRIVING mum says she can’t remember crashing her car into a gutter or punching an off-duty police officer as he tried to stop her after being found three times over the legal alcohol limit.
NSW
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A DRUNK mum who punched a police officer in the face after being found three times the legal alcohol limit with her two kids in the back seat has pleaded guilty in court.
The 43-year-old woman had told police she was “very drunk” and couldn’t remember crashing into the gutter shortly after she picked up her two children, aged 10 and 11, from Seven Hills North Public School.
Police facts show that the mother-of-three drove her Red Holden Barina along Joseph Banks Dr before her children got out of the car and stood on the footpath on 8 May.
She then continued to drive before trying to do a U-turn at a roundabout — but she hit the kerb causing “significant damage” to her car at Kings Langley.
Off duty police officer Detective Senior Constable Bernard Underwood, from the State Crime Command’s Organised Crime Squad, happened to be jogging along the road and saw what happened.
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As the woman attempted to drive away from the kerb, Det Sen Const Underwood approached her and told her he was a police officer.
Court documents say the woman “immediately became hostile and argumentative”.
She appeared to have bloodshot eyes and a strong odour of alcohol on her breath, the police facts said.
Det Sen Const Underwood formed the opinion that she was well affected by alcohol and placed her under arrest.
He tried to remove the keys from the car to stop her driving any further.
The woman then got out of her car and punched Det Sen Const Underwood in the right side of the face with a clenched fist.
She also scratched his wrist.
When police arrived a short time later she was still “hostile and aggressive”.
“The accused was yelling and threatening police,” the fact sheet said.
The woman was put into a caged police vehicle and officers later carried out a roadside breath test which returned a positive result.
She was taken to Riverstone police station where she told police that she had drunk three glasses of bourbon and coke between midday and 2pm at her house.
A breath analysis returned a result of 0.165.
Her licence was suspended and confiscated before she later took part in a recorded interview.
When asked about crashing her car she said: “To be honest I was very drunk and don’t remember.”
She was also asked about assaulting the police officer to which she answered: “I don’t remember the incident. All I remember was being dragged out of the car and thrown on the ground and handcuffs being applied.”
The woman was asked questions about why she wasn’t displaying P-plates. She said they were on there when she left home.
She was charged with negligent driving, assault officer in execution of duty and high-range PCA.
Today at Blacktown Local Court the woman’s lawyer said she would be pleading guilty to the charges.
The court heard that she would be undertaking an eight-week traffic offenders course.
Outside court she refused to answer questions and ran away from media wearing a cap and sunglasses.
Court documents reveal that she is not currently employed but is studying childcare part-time.
She does not have a criminal history and does not have an extensive traffic history.
“The accused explains she was intoxicated because of stresses she is facing at home,” court documents said.
The woman will be sentenced on 30 July.