Katherine Taylor: Drunk driver sentenced after hitting Ermington pedestrians
A woman who drank more than a litre of wine before breakfast then got into her car and knocked over a grandmother and her two grandchildren has been handed a sentence.
Parramatta
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A drunk mother who got behind the wheel of a car and struck a grandmother who was pushing her two grandchildren in a pram at Ermington will be allowed to drive again in less than a year.
Katherine Taylor, 49, had knocked back four 375ml red wines before 6am on October 28 when she got behind the wheel of a car with her children, aged eight and 10, inside.
She collided with a grandmother pushing a pram that contained her two-year-old grandson and six-year-old granddaughter.
The boy suffered facial swelling and a bruised eye after the William St collision shortly after 8.30am.
The girl suffered a large cut on her knee that caused heavy bleeding while her 55-year-old grandmother lay on the road in severe pain from a leg injury.
Taylor’s reading was 0.090 — nearly two times over the legal limit — and police found her in a dishevelled state with slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, the fly on her shorts open and her shirt undone.
At Parramatta Local Court on Tuesday, the defence solicitor said his client was distracted from cars lining both sides of the road and court papers stated the collision occurred when she briefly looked away to speak with her eight and 10-year-old children, who were in the front passenger and back seats.
The court heard Taylor has “contacted a facility” to help her anxiety and alcohol abuse.
The police prosecutor said the incident involved multiple victims and the offence was her second drink driving charge in five years.
Magistrate Tim Keady told Taylor the consequences of her actions could have been worse.
“It’s fortunate these injuries were not more serious than they were and someone was not killed,’’ he said.
The magistrate imposed a $1500 fine on Taylor and disqualified her from driving for nine months, which will be backdated from October.
He also imposed an 18-month community correction order and made her drive with an interlock for two years. The interlock prevents the engine from starting if it detects alcohol on drivers.
Taylor cried over the verdict but her solicitor welcomed the sentence.
Court papers state Taylor lives on the street where the incident occurred but her driver’s licence bears a West Ryde address.