A drunk mother who drove her two unrestrained kids on a treacherous morning school run behaved in a "terrible" way, a judge says.
Hastings woman Beverly Hale had her two children, aged 5 and 2, unrestrained and standing on car seats as she sped through traffic past schools, mounted a traffic island, and hit a parked car before walking the kids into school.
When sentencing Hale in Hastings District Court on Wednesday Judge Bridget Mackintosh said her offending was "terrible".
But the judge noted Hale had a number of personal issues and that she was remorseful.
She sentenced Hale to four months community detention and intensive supervision for 12 months.
Hale was disqualified from driving for 14 months.
Hale's lawyer Eric Forster said although she had an extensive criminal history she had not offended for about 10 years and only had one conviction for drink driving which was in 1994.
According to the police summary of facts it was only when Hale had dropped the elder child at Hastings Central School and was walking back to her car that she realised there was a problem.
On the morning of Wednesday, May 6, Hale, 40, drove her Honda Odyssey from Flaxmere into Hastings. She had earlier told a relative she was too drunk to drive but became impatient and chose to drive anyway.
As she drove along York Rd, a driver and passenger in another car became alarmed at her driving as she tried to overtake them. She got past them by swerving into the inside cycle lane as they drove along Wall Rd.
The occupants of the other car noticed there were two young children in Hale's car and both were unrestrained. One was standing on the front passenger seat.
They rang police and continued to follow Hale's car to advise police of her location.
As Hale turned into Murdoch Rd, she crossed the centreline, forcing oncoming vehicles to take evasive action. She continued at speed past a daycare centre, where a large number of parents were arriving to drop off their children.
A little further on, she sped past Hastings Boys' High School, and was seen overtaking two more cars.
When she reached Hastings Central School, she slowed down and did a U-turn. In the process, she mounted a traffic island before bumping into a parked car on the opposite side of the road. The car was not badly damaged.
Hale then got out of her car and took both her children into the school. She dropped off the elder one and was returning to her car with the 2-year-old when police approached her.
They said she appeared drunk. She was incapable of performing an evidential breath test and refused to provide a blood sample.
She refused to say why she drove, and abused police.
Hale pleaded guilty to two charges of ill-treating a child, one charge of driving dangerously, and one charge of refusing a request for a blood specimen.
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