Mother's drunken demolition

10:46am Thursday 18th September 2008

A drunken mother lost control of her partner’s sports car seconds after roaring off – crashing into a neighbour’s home.

Rachel Chapman, 43, faces jail after hurtling through gardens in a Subaru Impreza and reducing part of a house to rubble.

Yesterday, she pleaded guilty at Crawley Magistrates’ Court to aggravated vehicle taking, drink driving and having no insurance and no licence.

Gordon Grace, prosecuting, said that divorcee Chapman, who had not passed a driving test, had been drinking at home in Orchard Road, Burgess Hill, on June 28, when she jumped into the sports car.

In the same road, she lost control, drove across two gardens and crashed into the side of a house, causing damage estimated at £6,468 to the property and £235 of damage to an adjoining garden. The car, valued at £2,600, was written off.

Chapman, a telesales worker, made full admissions to police and was found to be more than twice the legal alcohol limit.

She was also not covered by insurance.

Rod Hayler, defending, told the court Chapman had taken to “binge drinking” after going through a difficult divorce.

“As a result of this her 13-year-old daughter had said she wanted to live with her father. There were further problems because her 19-year-old son had been the victim of an assault,” said Mr Hayler.

He added: “On the night of the incident, she received a phone call from her new partner saying he had spotted the alleged assailant of her son.

“She was worried about what her partner might do if he came across the man again so she decided to take his car to go into town to try to find him.

“Ms Chapman is not a qualified driver and lost control of the car. She has since written to all the neighbours involved, apologising. She has not had a drink since. She has joined Alcoholics Anonymous and is awaiting an appointment with a substance abuse counsellor. Also, her daughter has agreed to return home to live with her.”

Magistrates ruled that because of the amount of damage caused their powers to impose sentence and compensation were not sufficient, and sent Chapman on bail to Lewes Crown Court for sentencing on a date to be announced. An interim driving disqualification was ordered.

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