A Hastings mum caught drink-driving with two young children in the car has been ordered to stay at home for the weekends as part of a community detention sentence imposed by a judge in court today.
Beverley Ann Hale, 40, had two unrestrained children in her car, aged 5 and 2, with one of them reported to have been standing-up a short while before the car ran-over a traffic island during a hurried U-turn. The car also clipped a parked car outside Hastings Central School on the morning of May 6 this year.
At one stage, Judge Bridget Mackintosh said in Hastings District Court yesterday, the mum drove into Murdoch Rd at such a speed she veered across the centre line, forcing other traffic to stop to avoid colliding.
Police, called by a concerned motorist who had become alarmed by the erratic driving and the lack of restraints for the children, stopped her outside the school and took her the Hastings Police Station for drink-drive processing.
In August she pleaded guilty to one charge of refusing to supply a blood sample, one of dangerous driving and two of ill-treating children in failing to ensure their safety in the vehicle.