Melissa Anthony: Dance teacher in Sans Souci drink drive crash
A Sydney dance teacher told a court her life had spiralled out of control before she was caught drink driving at more than a whopping seven times the legal blood alcohol limit and crashed into a tree.
St George Shire Standard
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A Sydney dance teacher who crashed into a tree while drink driving at more than seven times the legal limit has narrowly avoided jail after a court heard she was suffering a breakdown.
Melissa Anthony, 45, was charged with high range drink driving after she lost control and ploughed her car into a tree on Brantwood St in Sans Souci in March 2020.
A blood sample obtained by police after Anthony was hospitalised returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.356 – more than seven times the legal limit, and more than twice the high range reading.
Anthony’s solicitor Susan Goodsell told Magistrate Michael Connell at Sutherland Local Court Anthony’s life had spiralled out of control after a relationship breakdown and the untimely death of a friend.
“She spiralled downhill fairly quickly until she found herself in the abyss in March,” Ms Goodsell said.
“She has no recollection of the day in question – her last memory is of the night before, when she received information that a reasonably close friend had died.”
The court heard Anthony had attempted to navigate a turn before hitting a root system beneath the road surface, losing control and hitting the tree.
Mr Connell sentenced Anthony to a nine-month prison term to be served in the community as an intensive corrections order and 100 hours’ community service after she pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
“She was in no position to be in a motor vehicle driving with that amount of alcohol in her body,” Mr Connell said.
“Thankfully nothing more serious happened, but given the extremely high reading and the fact there was a collision, the court should impose a custodial sentence to be served by way of an intensive corrections order.”
Anthony will also be required to continue drug and alcohol counselling and submit to supervision by Sutherland Community Corrections in addition to her prior involvement with a rehabilitation program at a Kogarah private hospital.
Her licence was disqualified for nine months and she will then be subject to an interlock device which requires a negative breath test before her car can switch on.
Anthony is an experienced dance teacher who runs her own studio in Ramsgate and teaches school dance classes at primary schools in Sans Souci, Ramsgate and Brighton-Le-Sands.