A DRIVER who had the highest breath alcohol reading magistrates had ever seen, has been banned from the roads for more than two years.

Leah Franklin, 24, appeared at the Isle of Wight Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, where she admitted failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis to police while at Newport Police Station.

Franklin, of St Martins Road, Wroxall, was tested by police on August 3 after she collided with another at vehicle 1.15am while driving along Godric Road, Newport.

Prosecutor Ann Smout said: "After the incident, bystanders were forced to stop her from leaving. When the police arrived they found her still sat in the driver's seat of the car."

The court heard Franklin was found to have a breath alcohol level of 100mg per 100ml breath in the first reading, and 152mg in the second reading — more than four times the legal limit of 35mg.

Mrs Smout said: "This is one of the highest levels I have ever seen.

"I think anyone with that amount of alcohol in their blood would be very firmly passed out."

She said on arriving at the police station, Franklin was not unwilling to give a third sample to police, but unable to.

Barry Arnett, for Franklin, said: "She willingly provided a sample to the police at the roadside, but at the police station you have to keep continuously blowing into the device.

"If she had wanted to circumvent the procedure, she would have just refused to have done it in the first place.

"She knows she is on the cusp of losing everything, knowing that she is a support worker who works with young adults."

Presiding magistrate Gillian Dale said: "This was a horrendous reading, the highest I think any of us here have ever seen."

Franklin was given a 28-month disqualification from driving and a 12-month community order to include 80 hours of unpaid work.

She was also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £90 surcharge.

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