Kim Vaughan: Woman caught drink driving at Jefferies McAdam Square Croydon Hills

A nurse and mother of one has learnt her fate in court after she was busted for drink driving after drunkenly mounting a footpath outside a Croydon Hills supermarket.

Kim Vaughan (right) leaves Ringwood Magistrates Court with her mother on January 31, 2023. Picture: Kiel Egging

A magistrate has told a nurse and mother of one she could have killed someone when she mounted a footpath outside a Croydon North supermarket while more than three times over the blood alcohol limit.

Kim Vaughan pleaded guilty to drink driving at Ringwood Magistrates’ Court on January 31 following the incident at McAdam Square shopping centre in Croydon Hills on February 11, 2022.

The court heard Vaughan was parking her car when she drove onto the footpath near Jefferies providore about 4.30pm.

Vaughan’s car did not hit the store, but police said she appeared alcohol affected and was slurring her speech after the incident.

She told officers she had drunk some wine at about 10.30am-11am and didn’t believe she was unfit to drive.

Officers took her to a nearby police station for a breath test where she recorded a blood alcohol reading of .167, and they immediately suspended her driver’s license and impounded her car.

Kim Vaughan was sentenced for drink driving at Ringwood Magistrates Court following an incident at McAdams Square in Croydon. Picture: Kiel Egging

The court heard Vaughan had been caught three times previously for drink driving.

Her defence lawyer said her client had gone through periods of alcohol addiction, but also periods of being sober during her 30s and relapsed due to the breakdown of her relationship with her ex-partner, who is also the father of her five-year-old son.

Vaughan, who was supported in court by her mother, told Magistrate Kirstie Grigor she took full responsibility for her issues and had been working “very hard” to get her life back on track, including counselling and working in retail.

She also expressed to Ms Grigor her desire to return to nursing as it was her biggest passion, and that she hadn’t worked in the industry for some time to deal with her issues.

Prosecutors recommended an adjourned undertaking for Vaughan so she could “show her resolve”.

Ms Grigor spared Vaughan a conviction but fined her $800 and cancelled her driver’s licence for 16 months from the date of the incident, allowing her to reapply in June.

She told Vaughan she hoped it would be the last occasion she would appear in court, given her “education and status in the community”.

“The time you were caught on the footpath … it could have been tragic and you could have killed someone,” Ms Grigor said.

“You must reflect on that every time you get back behind the wheel.”