Drunk driver, 37, who smashed into taxi then told police she was leaving a SWINGERS club that her boyfriend ‘tricked her into visiting’ is spared jail
- Research chemist Soraya Bashir, 37, admitted drink driving for a second time
- She was serving a 40-month ban for drink driving when stopped in September
- Her lawyer said she was driving as she did not want to go to a swinging club
- Kirklees Magistrates’ Court handed her a 12-week jail term suspended for a year
Soraya Bashir, 37, pictured outside Kirklees Magistrates’ Court, was driving home from a swingers’ club in Batley, West Yorkshire when she was stopped by police
A research chemist convicted of drink driving claimed the only reason she was behind the wheel of the car was because her boyfriend had taken her to a swingers’ club and she wanted to get home.
A lawyer for Soraya Bashir, 37, said her client ‘didn’t think about what she was doing’ after her partner pulled up outside the club in Batley, West Yorkshire.
But another driver called police after witnessing Bashir drifting into the wrong lane and almost striking a taxi.
Bashir narrowly avoided jail after Kirklees Magistrates’ Court heard she had been banned from the road for 40 months for drink-driving just three months earlier.
Alex Bozman, prosecuting, said Bashir caught the attention of the witness as she came off the M621 exit slip road at Birstall at around 2.30am on September 15.
Mr Bozman said: ‘The witness thought she seemed hesitant in her Honda Jazz and she drifted out of the nearside lane into the offside lane.
‘Concerned that she may have been in drink the witness dialled 999 and then followed her towards the junction with Low Lane.
‘She nearly collided with a taxi and then pulled up.
-
‘What’s official line on KICKING little s**t kids in head?’:…
Mentally-ill man, 22, raped pensioner as she put out her…
Share this article
‘When police arrived at her vehicle she was asleep in the driver’s seat still holding the car key.’
Bashir was located on Nelson Street, Birstall, where she appeared drunk and initially claimed that she had not been driving the car.
The officers made some enquiries and her recent driving ban came to light.
On June 27, Humber magistrates banned her from driving for 40 months for drink-driving.
She was arrested and further police station breath tests showed that she had 80 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – more than twice the legal limit of 35 microgrammes.
Kirklees Magistrates’ Court, pictured, heard Bashir had been banned for driving at Humber Magistrates’ Court on June 27 having admitted an earlier charge of drink-driving
Bashir, a research chemist of Rawcliffe Bridge in Goole, East Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to driving when over the prescribed limit and driving while disqualified.
She had another drink-driving offence on her record dating back to 2003 and a conviction for failing to provide a specimen of breath from June 2015.
Zafar Iqbal, mitigating, said: ‘The lady was (initially) driven by her boyfriend. They were going to a club but then she realised that the club was a swingers’ club.
‘She’d already had a few drinks and didn’t think about what she was doing.
She was lost in the area and that’s why she pulled up.
‘She appreciates that she’s looking at a custodial sentence (but) custody would be devastating for her.
‘She would lose her job and may lose her house and would not be able to care for her parents.
‘The impact of custody could cause further problems for her in the future.’
Magistrates sentenced Bashir to 12 weeks in custody, suspended for one year.
She will have to comply with a community order including 17 rehabilitation activity days.
Magistrates banned her from driving for a further five years and she must pay £85 prosecution costs and £115 victim surcharge.
Source: Read Full Article