Seven months pregnant driver three times over limit

A seven months pregnant woman was found to be nearly three times over the alcohol limit after a car crash, a court was told.

Lyndel Stewart, 32, of New Plymouth, drifted off the road before she crossed the centre line and drove into a ditch in March, The Taranaki Daily News reported.

Doctors at Taranaki Base Hospital held grave fears for the safety of the unborn baby following the accident.

Defence counsel Julian Hannam told New Plymouth District Court yesterday Stewart gave birth on May 3.

He conceded she had a drinking problem, had two previous convictions, but asked Judge Alan Roberts whether the possibility of home detention could be explored.

The judge obliged, remanding her on bail for sentence on July 23.

The court was told Stewart had been stopped three weeks earlier after drive-through staff at a hamburger outlet called police when she turned up in a car at 3.45am drunk.

- NZPA