Taryn Evans: Gin-guzzling drunk driver blows .272 on her birthday
A sozzled Edithvale spirits lover was so smashed she didn’t realise her car’s front wheels were wedged between a bollard and a garden bed.
South East
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An alcoholic who racked up a reading nearly six times the legal drink-drive limit while celebrating her birthday has been told to front up to court for sentencing.
Taryn Evans pleaded guilty at a virtual hearing at the Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday to blowing .272 following a slow speed crash in a carpark.
The Edithvale 33-year-old appeared by phone as she said she was unable to get the online video link to work.
She was told not to worry about technology next time, with the magistrate wanting her to physically appear at court in person due to the seriousness of her crime.
The court heard in December 2019 Evans was sitting in the driver’s seat of her vehicle at a Carrum Downs gym carpark.
Instead of reversing out of a space she accelerated forward and got her front wheels stuck over the top of a concrete bollard.
Police arrived and found Evans behind the wheel with bloodshot eyes and slurred speech.
On the passenger seat was a handbag which contained an empty 700ml bottle of gin.
She was tested and registered .272, losing her licence on the spot.
Evans told police she had been feeling anxious and had begun drinking the day before to celebrate her birthday.
But that wasn’t her only motoring mishap.
In June last year she was driving in Chelsea — even though she had been suspended — when she misjudged a turn into a parking bay, colliding with a large rock on a nature strip and hitting a fence.
She didn’t stop to report the accident and instead drove to a nearby milk bar, where police found her behind the wheel of her damaged car.
She was not breath-tested this time.
Defence lawyer Pamela Hogan said her client had a longstanding problem with alcohol abuse which was linked to her anxiety, depression and mental health concerns.
Magistrate Timothy Gattuso said Evans was in a “very serious position”.
“She has shown a blatant disregard for the safety of the community,” Mr Gattuso said.
“(. 272) is one of the highest I have heard.
“I am not happy sentencing her when I can’t see her, I want her to attend (lockdown permitting) in person next time.”
Evans will face court again on September 13.
