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Drunk mum Natalie Wood flipped Honda on Maidstone-bound A249

A drunk mother who flipped her car weeks after her driving ban was lifted has been handed a suspended sentence.

Natalie Wood was more than three times over the legal alcohol limit when she crashed her Honda on the A249 in August.

Maidstone Magistrates Court heard Wood had stopped drinking at around 4am on August 29, nearly 10 hours before flipping her car onto its roof.

Drink driver Natalie Wood leaving Maidstone Magistrates Court (5444941)
Drink driver Natalie Wood leaving Maidstone Magistrates Court (5444941)

On the day of the crash Wood, who also goes by Natalie Frankham, had gone shopping and visited her GP.

Chair of the bench Gill Fryzer condemned the married mother, who lives in South Street Road, Stockbury.

Ms Fryzer said: "It's only by the grace of god that no one was killed on that road.

"How you didn't kill somebody or yourself and leave your children without a mother we don't know."

Magistrates heard Wood had finished serving a 28 month driving ban on August 7 after being convicted of drink driving in March 2016.

Weeks later Wood crashed her Honda CR-V on the Maidstone-bound carriageway near Hucking.

No other vehicles were involved in the crash and the 33-year-old had to be cut free by firefighters and taken to hospital.

"How you didn't kill somebody or yourself and leave your children without a mother we don't know" - Gill Fryzer

A blood test taken at Medway Maritime Hospital showed 296mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.

The legal limit is 80mg.

Wood told police she remembered little of the incident, and denies having a problem with alcohol.

Appearing at Maidstone Magistrates Court, Wood was given a 56 day prison sentence, suspended for two years.

She was also banned from driving for three years and nine months.

Ms Fryzer said: "We're not going to impose immediate custody only because of the impact it would have on your young children.

"We're not offering you the drink driving rehabilitation course as you've recently taken one and it clearly doesn't have the required effect.

"You don't believe you have a problem with alcohol, quite clearly it is a problem for you as its disrupted your life really badly twice now."

Wood was ordered to pay £200 in costs, she must also carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and complete 45 rehabilitation activity sessions in the next two years.

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