Lawyer's widow argues she should be spared drink driving ban because her driveway is too long to walk down

Barbara Woodward was stopped in Cheshire behind the wheel of her Mercedes G-class almost three times over the drink-drive limit. Photo / 123RF

A lawyer's widow who was caught drink driving argued in court that she should not be banned from getting behind the wheel as her driveway is too long for her to walk down.

Barbara Woodward was found to be three times over the legal alcohol limit when she went to buy wine from a nearby store last November.

At Stockport magistrates court the 56-year-old said the paved track to her rural home - thought to be up to a quarter of a mile long - was so vast she would "struggle" to get about.

Her lawyer Nigel Beeson told the hearing: "This lady has quite a large front drive, it is a quarter of a mile from the road and it would be difficult for her - she would have to make some lifestyle changes to go about her day-to-day life."

She had also suffered a broken bone in her foot 18 months ago.

Woodward was found by police in her £79,000 ($150,000) Mercedes G-class 4x4 at around 9am on November 17 near Alderley Edge, Cheshire.

The incident occurred two days after Woodward had attended the funeral of her husband - a lawyer who died following an undisclosed illness.

She had a sandwich, her dog and two unopened bottles of wine next to her. Test results at the police station showed she had 104 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the legal limit is 35mg. ​

She told the hearing: "I buried my husband on Wednesday 15th November and the months leading up to it were terrible. He did everything, and then when he died I had to take over. I had never paid a bill in my life.

"I was just so distraught. I have never and will never drive after having a drink. I know it was wrong to have a drink in the car but I was desperate to get rid of the pain I was feeling."

The widower also asked that she not be handed an order of unpaid work claiming it would "put her in an alien surrounding" as she had never worked in her life and warned it would "make her feel uncomfortable and out of her depth."

Magistrates convicted her of driving with excess alcohol banned her from driving for two years - but spared her the unpaid work.

Woodward was also ordered to complete a 12 month community order, consisting of 15 rehabilitation days, was fined £560 and pay £705 in costs and surcharges.