Cabaret singer NHS worker, 33, bursts into tears as she is banned from the roads after driving home at 4am from a gig more than twice over the alcohol limit and with a buckled wheel on her Ford Focus
- NHS administrator Hannah Smith, 33, pleaded guilty to driving over the limit
- Part-time singer and DJ had 85mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath; limit is 35mg
- When pulled over, her ‘speech was slurred’ and there was a ‘smell of intoxicants’
- Smith, from Cheadle Hulme, near Stockport, Greater Manchester, banned for 20 months and fined £276
A cabaret singer who works for the NHS has been banned from the roads for almost two years after she was caught driving home from a gig at 4am more than twice over the alcohol limit.
Hannah Smith, 33, from Cheadle Hulme, near Stockport, Greater Manchester, was caught swerving around the roads with a buckled wheel on her Ford Focus ST having earlier completed a stint as a karaoke DJ and singer at a club.
The NHS administrator by day and entertainment business owner by night burst into tears at Tameside Magistrates’ Court in Greater Manchester after she was axed from the roads for 20 months and handed a £276 fine.
She pleaded guilty to driving with 85 micrograms of alcohol in 100 mililitres of breath – more than double that of the 35mg legal limit.
Smith, who works at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport claimed that the wheel of her car had only been damaged when another car accidentally crashed into her moments before she was stopped.
But prosecutor Shahid Khan said that on June 25, a uniformed officer was driving in a police car on Mercian Way, Stockport at 4.37am when he became alerted to Smith’s reckless driving.
NHS worker Hannah Smith (pictured), 33, has been banned from the roads for almost two years after she was caught driving home at 4am from a gig more than twice over the alcohol limit
Smith (pictured), also a singer and DJ, was found swerving around the roads with a buckled wheel on her Ford Focus having earlier performed at a venue
‘The defendant did not appear to have proper control of the vehicle so he activated his emergency equipment causing the defendant to stop,’ Mr Khan said.
‘Upon exiting the vehicle she told the officer that someone had hit her vehicle causing her to swerve.
‘Her speech was slurred and the smell of intoxicants was coming from inside the vehicle.
‘Due to what she told him and his observations he asked for a roadside sample of breath and the reading was 94 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml breath at the roadside.’
Mr Khan further told the court that Smith was then arrested and taken to the police station for an evidential test.
He added: ‘The lowest reading was 85 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath above the legal limit.
‘The defendant has no previous convictions so she has lost her good character. The officer observed her swerving on the road. An example of poor driving is an aggravating feature.’
On top of her ban from the roads and being slapped with a £276 fine, Smith was ordered to pay an additional £195 in costs and victim surcharge.
The singer’s solicitor Peter Green said that she was ‘devastated’ by the incident which resulted in her first appearance in criminal court.
On top of her ban from the roads and being slapped with a £276 fine, Smith (pictured) was ordered to pay an additional £195 in costs and victim surcharge
Smith (pictured leaving court) was claimed to have been slurring her words and there was a smell of intoxicants, according to prosecutors
The singer’s (pictured) solicitor, Peter Green, says the incident is ‘completely out of character’ but she knows it was the wrong decision
‘She thought she was OK to drive. She’d had about three drinks but said she’d been hit by another car which buckled the wheel which is why the car was swerving,’ he said.
‘She gave that explanation at the scene. She smells of drink and fully complied with the drink-drive procedure.’
Mr Green went on to mention that Smith’s day-to-day life will be severely impacted as she used the car to ‘get to work for the NHS’.
He confirmed that she had been performing in nearby Hazel Grove on the night she was stopped.
‘She did not intend to drive the car home but she realised she had made a foolish decision to get in the car because she needed to get the car back home to her parents who were going to see her brother who was in Salford hospital,’ he said.
The solicitor said that his client’s brother had a brain haemorrhage which he has had 17 operations for which Smith has played a large part in helping him get to.
‘It was the wrong decision to drive and no one knows more fully than her at this point in time,’ the solicitor said.
‘That’s the kind of person she is… It was completely out of character. It was the wrong choice.
‘Unfortunately, she was hit by a car. That led to police getting involved and going into the area. That also explains the swerving as well.
‘We have to accept that the reading at the roadside was high, and it was a high reading at the police station as well. That’s the situation, warts and all, she fully accepts that.’
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