A Warilla woman found crying in the gutter after crashing her car into a fence while driving with almost nine time the legal alcohol limit in her system will likely avoid a full time jail sentence in favour of rehab.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Gemma Purcell, 34, was charged with high range drink driving after blowing 0.432 on July 21 last year. Police said at the time it was one of the state's highest ever recorded readings.
Court documents said police were called to Springhill Road at Cringila around 2pm with reports that a Suzuki swift had been involved in a crash. Officers said they found Purcell crying in the gutter, but immediately noticed the smell of alcohol on her breath when she spoke to them.
The court heard Purcell originally returned a negative breath test at the scene and claimed she had not consumed alcohol, however, when tested again, she blew a staggering reading of 0.450.
That result prompted her to confess she'd "had a wine at lunch with Mum".
She was arrested and taken to Port Kembla Police Station, where she underwent a formal breath analysis, which recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.432.
Purcell then told police she had downed "one 375ml bottle of Tooheys New full strength beer".
She claimed to have her first drink at 12.30pm and her last drink at 1.30pm but said she'd "vomited a little".
I don't want you to walk out of court thinking this isn't serious
- Magistrate Mark Douglass
Purcell was due to be sentenced in Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday, however Magistrate Mark Douglass agreed to adjourn the matter for a week at her lawyer's request so Purcell could attend appointments with the Illawarra Drug and Alcohol Service (IDAS).
The court heard Purcell had a history of alcohol abuse and had two prior drink driving matters on her record from 2004 and 2010.
She also has previously suffered from an eating disorder, which her lawyer suggested may have affected her most recent alcohol reading.
"It's highly unusual for a person with that reading to be able to walk and talk as she did," her lawyer said.
Magistrate Douglass agreed Purcell would benefit from professional help and said he was considering imposing an intensive corrections order in lieu of full-time prison so she could attend a rehabilitation program.
"I don't want you to walk out of court thinking this isn't serious," he said.
An updated background report will also be prepared ahead of Purcell's sentencing on July 3.
