Jail for driver caught three times over drink drive limit at 8.30am in Peterborough

Sandra Lytkinaite was stopped by police as she drove down Eastfield Road in Peterborough during the morning rush hour on May 23 this year.

She gave a positive breath test at the roadside - and when she was taken to Thorpe Wood Police Station she gave a reading of 115mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath - more than three times the 35mg permitted.

Lytkinaite, (28) of Glastone Street, Peterborough, appeared at Peterborough Magistrates' Court today (Friday) where she pleaded guilty to drink driving, driving without insurance and driving without a licence.

The court heard the team leader at Amazon had been convicted of the same offences just three years ago.

She sobbed as she listened to the case with help from a Lithuanian interpreter.

Claire Thornley, defending, urged District Judge Ken Sheraton to impose a suspended sentence. She said: "There is no long term, deep routed alcohol dependency.

"I appreciate it is the second offence and she should have learnt her lesson, but I ask for a suspended sentence.

"She was unaware of how serious the court would view these matters."

But Judge Sheraton said an immediate prison sentence was the only option.

He said: "This is the second time you have been convicted of driving with excess alcohol, the second time you have been convicted of driving with no insurance and the second time you have been convicted of driving without a licence.

"You have not passed your test in the UK, you were three times over the limit on a busy road during rush hour putting other vehicles and people at risk

"A prison sentence must be passed."

Along with the eight week jail sentence, she was disqualified from driving for three years, and ordered to pay a £115 victim surcharge upon release.