Mitchell appeared at Swansea Magistrates' Court
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A PHILOSOPHY graduate who turned to alcohol after coming off heroin was almost twice the drink-drive limit when her car collided with a bus.
Alison Louise Mitchell was behind the wheel when the Peugeot 107 she was driving struck a bus on the afternoon of June 21, on New Road, Skewen, the street on which she lives.
Lisa Jones, prosecuting, told Swansea Magistrates' Court: "She was travelling along the road to Neath Abbey and it seems she lost control and collided with the kerb before colliding with the vehicle.
"Officers attended the scene and spoke to her in the rear of an ambulance. She identified herself and said 'I am sorry, I just come out and did not see the bus'".
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The 32-year-old was taken to Morriston Hospital where a tested revealed she had 213 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of urine. The legal limit is 107 milligrammes.
She admitted driving with excess alcohol, driving without due care and attention, and without third party insurance.
Mitigating, James McKenna said: "She has a chequered history and past, unfortunately involving heroin misuse.
"She had a lengthy custodial term and said she struggled on release from prison. She had methadone in prison, but on release the methadone script did not come with her.
"She had problems and rather than go back on heroin or any other drug, she hit the bottle.
"She is a woman with a degree in philosophy and she is back at university in her second year studies in humanities, working towards a history degree.
"Heroin addiction often never amounts to anything and often ends in an early grave, but she wants to make a difference. She is an industrious young woman who has struggled since prison. But that was seven months ago and she has changed her circumstances".
Mr McKenna said she had been driving without third party insurance due to an 'oversight' on setting-up her policy over the internet, when she believed she had been covered.
He added: "She paid in excess of £5,000 for her vehicle. It is not in her interests not to insure it. I can see the logic of her explanation, but it is not a defence".
Chairman of magistrates Barry Arnold disqualified Mitchell from driving for 20 months, and ordered her to pay a combined fine, costs and surcharge totalling £490.
He added: "It is frustrating for you to be back here, but it is frustrating for the court also. We do not want to see you back here".
Read more at http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/former-drug-using-graduate-collided-with-bus-after-hitting-the-bottle/story-29755701-detail/story.html#dwfQIVe4WYFoXu77.99
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