BEREAVED Rebecca Nevin was more than three times the drink-drive limit when she smashed into a skip while on route to her mum's grave – wearing just her pyjamas.
The 30-year-old was found sitting in her wrecked car, looking "vacant", by two men who had seen her swerving from side to side as she drove along Longmoor Lane, Long Eaton.
Southern Derbyshire Magistrates Court heard that Nevin, of Stapleford, had been drinking and had then decided to visit her mother's grave at around 10pm.
But while on route to the cemetery, she crashed into a skip, sending traffic cones spinning across the road.
The two men who saw her told police: "The driver looked vacant.
"We asked the driver if she was OK and she asked what we had done."
Nevin admitted drink-driving and magistrates banned her from driving for five years and gave her a 12-week jail sentence, suspended for a year. She was also told to attend a six-month course to tackle her problems with alcohol.
Prosecutor Peter Bettany told the court: "She didn't seem aware she had driven into a skip and was wearing her pyjamas.
"Police came and called out an ambulance but its staff didn't think she required medical treatment."
Jobless Nevin, of Lawrence Street, was taken to a police station following the smash, on May 14, and found to have 292 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80.
She was then taken to hospital.
Mr Bettany added: "In a pre-sentence report, she said she was drinking and decided to visit the cemetery where her mother was laid to rest."
Nevin, who was also banned for drink-driving in 2010, must pay £85 prosecution costs and an £80 government surcharge.
District Judge Morris Cooper told her: "This is a very serious offence, I hope you have learned that.
"It is also a very worrying offence.
"Fortunately in your case, nobody was killed or seriously injured as a result of your utterly reckless driving and the extraordinarily high level of alcohol in your body."
He said Nevin could have been jailed immediately but told her: "You would be out in a few weeks and nothing would be done to deal with your alcohol problem.
"I am suspending it for the benefit of the public."
Lauren Sharkey, in mitigation, said Nevin had been her mother's "full-time carer" and told the judge: "Her alcohol intake increased since the death of her mother.
"She was missing her mother and consumed a large quantity of alcohol and decided to visit."
Nevin had seen a bereavement counsellor but the appointment was with a man and she "felt she would open up more with a female counsellor", the court was told.
Miss Sharkey added: "She had been drinking daily and feels she is dependent on alcohol.
"She has tried to seek help and has been to Alcoholics Anonymous and another alcohol treatment service run by the NHS.
"But she felt she had no support to stop her thinking about her problems and that made her feel worse.
"She wants some kind of structure to make sure she gets away from her alcohol dependency."
