A MOTHER who was found slumped over a car steering wheel while almost six times the legal alcohol limit was spared prison today (Thursday, December 11).

Police were forced to smash a window of a Peugeot 207 belonging to Julie Foster when the 30-year-old failed to respond to their requests to open the vehicle on the evening of Tuesday, November 4.

John Garside, prosecuting at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates Court in County Durham, said officers had feared for Foster’s safety.

He said: “The defendant was in the driver’s seat and slumped over the steering wheel of the Peugeot 207 in Auckland Road in Ferryhill.

“On closer inspection it became clear the defendant was wearing a seatbelt and the keys were in the ignition.”

Test revealed 202 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Foster, of Stanhope Close, Ferryhill, admitted being in charge of a car while above the legal alcohol limit last month and the case was adjourned for probation reports.

John Turner, mitigating, said: “This is a lady of previous good character, a lady who has had serious mental health problems since she was a young girl.

“However, she has not given into them and has taken steps throughout her life to address them.

“She resorted to alcohol in 2012 and has become alcohol dependant. Despite this, she has managed to bring up her child and keep her job.”

Magistrates sentenced Foster to 12 weeks in custody, but suspended the sentence for 12 months, during which she will be supervised by the probation service for four months.

She was disqualified from driving for 12 months and ordered to pay £85 costs and an £80 victim surcharge.