Wealthy businesswoman, 46, who downed Prosecco, vodka and gin at work meal then nearly drove into police van blames her staff for topping up her glass when she wasn’t looking
- Rachel Hind stopped by Cheshire Police in June as she was returning from drinks
- Officers swerved to avoid hitting Hind, whose husband is chair of parish council
- Found to be twice over alcohol limit and banned for 21 months, with £1,940 fine
Rachel Hind, 46, (seen leaving Manchester Magistrates Court) was stopped by officers in Cheshire when they saw her Audi A3 swerving onto the wrong side of the road
A wealthy care home boss who nearly drove into a police van after downing Prosecco, double vodkas and gin on a night out with staff was yesterday banned from the roads.
Rachel Hind, 46, was stopped by officers in Cheshire when they saw her Audi A3 swerving onto the wrong side of the road after she left an Italian restaurant where she had treated 22 colleagues to dinner.
The police had to swerve to avoid hitting Hind’s car. When she got out, the nurse struggled to get her keys from the ignition and was staggering in her high heels with slurred speech, glazed eyes and her breath smelling heavily of alcohol.
The mother-of-two, whose businessman husband Will is chairman of the local parish council, was at twice the alcohol limit after one of her regular evenings out to thank their employees.
She tried to wriggle out of a ban by saying her staff topped up her drinks without her knowledge, believing she was getting a taxi back to her £1.3m home in High Legh, Cheshire.
Hind also claimed she was only swerving to avoid potholes, but magistrates banned her for 21 months and fined her £1,200, with costs of £740.
The incident occurred at 2.15am on June 23 after Hind had left the Italian Job restaurant in Urmston, Greater Manchester, after the party had spent up to six hours eating and drinking.
John Richards, prosecuting, said: ‘The police evidence says she was swerving around. She was unsteady on her feet, her eyes were glazed and her speech was slurred. She was staggering and her breath stank of alcohol and she needed help into the police van.
‘The Crown say it would have been patently obvious to her that she was over the limit. You might think it’s strange that she didn’t realise her Prosecco had been topped up. In a short period of time, the glass goes from half full to full – how did she not realise that?’
The mother-of-two, (pictured) whose businessman husband Will is chairman of the local parish council, was at twice the alcohol limit after one of her regular evenings out with staff
Tests showed Hind, who specialises in end-of-life care at her two care homes, blew a reading of 79 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.
She told the hearing: ‘Every quarter of the year I take the staff out for a meal and drinks and to say thank you. I take them to an Italian restaurant and they have an open bar. I just pay the bill and let them have what they want.
‘I would always drive there and drive home. Very occasionally, I would get a taxi but on that day I drove.
‘I was on call that night which means I am in charge of running the night shift. I ordered a single gin and tonic. I always would have a gin and tonic and maybe a glass of Prosecco if I was having a three-course meal.’
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Hind told Manchester Magistrates Court she had ‘four to five glasses of coke’ with her main meal and a glass of Prosecco.
‘I felt fine. I didn’t feel drunk, I felt fine to drive – I didn’t think I was taking a risk,’ she said.
‘But the road was full of potholes. It did occur to me that I hope the police don’t think I am a drunk driver because I am swerving to avoid the potholes. I have had four punctures in two years on that car from potholes.’
She added: ‘I told the officer from the very beginning that I had been drinking, but it was only one gin and tonic and a glass of Prosecco over the course of a three course meal.
‘I struggled out of the police van, but I was wearing high heels and I don’t normally wear them.’
Hind also claimed she was only swerving to avoid potholes, but magistrates banned her for 21 months and fined her £1,200, with costs of £740
Hind said her colleague Amanda Jackson later confessed to topping up her drinks during the evening during a heart-to-heart meeting, adding: ‘She went white in the face and said “I’m sorry, but I topped your drinks up that night”.
‘She didn’t know I was driving home and she told me that she had been giving me drinks. She said she topped up my Prosecco once and that she had put Vodka and Cokes on the table.
‘[…] Retrospectively, I can see now that I was drunk but at no point did I feel over the limit at the time, I was talking to my colleague all the way home in the car.
‘My cousin died after being hit by an articulated lorry and my best friend’s nephew was also hit by a drunk driver. I haven’t drink driven until this incident where I unknowingly got into my car while over the limit and drove.’
Work colleague Miss Jackson admitted unwittingly getting doubles for her boss and said: ‘I went to the bar a couple of times and ordered about four vodka and cokes each time and I just brought them to the table and put them down there.
‘I saw she was drinking coke but I didn’t realise she was supposed to be drinking normal coke.
‘I was just going around the table filling the glasses up. I filled them all up. When she told me what happened I said “Oh my God, I am so sorry I bought you some drinks and I didn’t know you weren’t drinking”.
‘It’s all my fault and she’s in all this trouble and I didn’t know she wasn’t drinking. She is my boss and she is amazing at what she does, and I feel terrible and will take the consequences.’
Hind’s lawyer Miss Stephanie Varle said: ‘In the UK, a lot of people drink a small amount of alcohol and drive.
‘You have heard that she reasonably believed that she drank a gin and tonic and a glass of Prosecco and was safe to drive home.
‘She did go out and consume some alcohol, which the law permits her to do – but she didn’t notice her drink had been topped up.’
But justice of the peace Edward Tasker, said: ‘Having heard all the evidence, we don’t accept that the defendant didn’t know that the drinks didn’t have alcohol in them.’
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