A NORTH Cumbrian woman living through “incredibly difficult personal circumstances” drank alcohol and deliberately crashed her car into a tree in a bid to take her own life.

But 34-year-old Thursby woman Rachel Vevers survived the crash. She was later charged with drink driving and, at Carlisle’s Rickergate court, she pleaded guilty to the allegation.

Prosecutor George Shelley outlined the facts, describing how police were called out after the defendant crashed her Peugeot 208 car into a tree beside the B6259 near to Warcop on March 18.

“The defendant had intentionally driven the car while under the influence of alcohol and unfortunately crashed into a tree with the purpose of taking her own life,” said the prosecutor.

“The airbags deployed and she then called her partner, who collected her from the scene and took her home.

“The defendant reported it to the police herself two hours later. The police attended and spoke to her. She confirmed that she had been drinking and had crashed the car intentionally.

“She said she was trying take her own life.”

An initial breath test showed that Vevers had 121mcg of alcohol in every 100mls of breath, though a later test, conducted after the defendant had been seen by paramedics at The Cumberland Infirmary, yielded a reading of 85mcg.

The legal limit for driving is 35mcg of alcohol.

The defendant had no previous convictions. Defence lawyer Mark Shepherd highlighted the defendant's suicide motive at the time of the crash.

He stressed that Vevers had "no intention whatsoever" of harming anybody else. “She said she consumed alcohol afterwards as well,” said the lawyer.

More specifically, Mr Shepherd said Vevers had consumed four cans of alcohol before the crash and another four after it. He pointed to a record of her having said this after her arrest.

Mr Shepherd continued: “She has been through incredibly difficult personal circumstances over the last year, but I am not going to go into detail in open court. She is still suffering physical pain.”

Vevers had been on sick leave from her job as a support worker, which involves her working with vulnerable people at supported living accommodation.

Since the accident, she had sought help from her GP to deal with anxiety and her medication had been increased. She had taken steps to ensure that she never again makes a similar bad decision.

District Judge John Temperley offered the defendant sympathy after referring to her personal difficulties; and noted her reasons for committing the offence.

“That said, anyone on any public road with alcohol over the legal limit is committing an offence which can cause serious injury, not only to yourself but also to others. Thankfully, that didn’t occur on this occasion.”

He fined Vevers £120 with £85 costs and a £48 surcharge.

The District Judge gave the defendant a 16 month driving ban but offered her the drink driver rehabilitation course, which if completed by February 14 next year will take 16 weeks off the disqualification.