Ashleigh Kerr: Drunken crash lands mum in Southport court
Thousands of Gold Coast homes were left without power after a woman’s late-night snack run went horribly wrong. Find out what happened.
Police & Courts
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A desperate dash for a late-night snack ended with a Gold Coast mother slamming her car into vital infrastructure and causing thousands of homes to lose power.
Ashleigh Kerr, 25, lost control of her vehicle and ploughed into a traffic light at Southport in the early hours of March 28.
Southport Magistrates Court was told the force of the crash also extensively damaged a nearby power pole, causing about 2500 homes in the area to lose power for several hours.
Prosecutor Erin Garland said Kerr was being assessed by paramedics when police arrived, and needed to be taken to hospital for further treatment.
She said the Biggera Waters woman recorded a blood alcohol concentration of 0.151.
The court was told Kerr had been drinking with friends in Surfers Paradise earlier that night, and decided to drive to a nearby service station to get food after returning home.
It was heard Kerr was the single mother of a three-year-old child and had also been affected by her own mother’s recent cancer diagnosis.
Magistrate Kerry Magee said she took into account that Kerr’s licence had been suspended since the crash, her $40,000 car had been written off, and she had since engaged a psychologist.
“You got the attention of police through the manner of your driving – an indication that when you drive with that much alcohol on board, your ability to control that vehicle is impaired,” she said.
“You are putting other people’s lives at risk, and hopefully you have a greater appreciation for that now having undertaken the traffic offenders’ program.
Kerr pleaded guilty to one count of driving under the influence of liquor.
She was fined $1000 and disqualified from driving for six months. No conviction was recorded.
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