A woman who crashed her vehicle with her four kids sitting in the back was cleared of drunk driving after she claimed she started drinking after the crash.
26-year-old Kelsey Riding was reported to be “unsteady on her feet” by another driver after she crashed her Mercedes head-on with his vehicle and offered him £1,000 to spare her from the headaches of going through insurance companies. She then left the scene before police arrived.
Kelsey was eventually confronted by officers at the house of one of her friends where she was found to be more than four times over the drink driving limit. However, Kelsey was later cleared of charges after it was ruled that there was not enough evidence to prove that she had been drunk during the incident.
Even though the other driver told the court that Kelsey seemed drunk and couldn’t speak properly, she claimed she was sober at the time of the crash, adding that she started drinking when she went to her friend’s place to calm down.
“I was panicking and asked her to get me a strong drink. I just needed to calm my nerves and I stood outside her house having a glass of vodka which more or less neat and I then necked it then had another one whilst I was getting the kids out of my car and into my friends van,” she said, according to Manchester Evening News.
“I just feel like a bad mum drinking. I was there 15-20 minutes and it was long enough to have two drinks. I just panicked. They were incredibly strong drinks. I had not had a drink before it,” Kelsey added.
In defense of Kelsey
Her friend, Paige Azad, said her Kelsey entered her place “distraught and crying her eyes out” before asking her for a drink, telling the court:
“It’s all my fault as I might as well have given her the whole litre of vodka. I am not going to lie. She just necked it.”
Paige went on to say that she would “never let her drink-drive home” as she is godmother to her kids.
Case dismissed
According to the chairman of the bench, the other driver’s account was found to be “credible”, while Kelsey’s defense was “confusing, emotional and misleading” at times. Her friend’s testimony, meanwhile, was described as “incredible.”
However, as the prosecution’s case could not be proven “beyond all reasonable doubt,” the driver was cleared of the charge.
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