A MUM-of-two caught drink driving tried to avoid a ban by claiming she was suffering from "separation anxiety" after leaving her baby son to go boozing.
Elizabeth Prince, 29, got behind the wheel of her Fiat 500 following an alcohol-fuelled meeting at her PA and pal's home.
She had left her two children in the care of her mother Joanne as she knocked back glasses of wine on January 31 last year during lockdown.
The businesswoman, who runs a tattoo parlour, was at her PA's home when she fielded a phone call from her mum Joanne.
Prince – who also has a nine-year-old daughter – said the children's gran explained she was struggling to get the baby settled.
The 29-year-old, from Kearsley near Bolton, Greater Manchester, told Tameside magistrates court her son's cries are her "trigger" and she "cannot be apart from him."
She said her previous "violent and abusive relationship", which was witnessed by the kids, left her with severe anxiety and PTSD.
The mum explained: "When I was assaulted during my relationship, my boy was dropped and it made him cry and I now have separation anxiety."
Prince said she had been confident enough to leave her kids that evening, but that her baby's cries caused her to act hastily.
The mum told the hearing: "I had some wine but my mum then rang me to say she was unable to settle him.
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"He was crying, I could hear him in the background and I just got into the car because I just wanted to get back.
'''I do not think clearly when he cries – I just react and it is something that is ongoing. My anxiety was sky high and triggered my PTSD and I was going to drive to my mum’s."
She hopped in her car at 1am but was pulled over by traffic cops who saw her speeding and "weaving" around the carriageway shortly after.
The patrolman said her car was also juddering as though she was driving in the wrong gear.
Prince was said to be slurring her words and reeking of alcohol, before tests revealed she had 51 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millitres of breath – the legal limit is 35mg.
When quizzed as to why she did not call a taxi, the mum said she was unable to "think of a sensible option" as her son's distress had provoked her PTSD.
She added:"Also, I cannot imagine how long I would have waited for a cab. I just did not think, I just panicked."
Prince's mother Joanne said she had called the 29-year-old as the baby had become "quite distressed and poorly."
'NO COMPELLING REASONS'
She continued: "He had not been that distressed previously but he has quite bad anxiety when she leaves him and on this occasion he had been in distress for about one hour or so and I needed to get hold of my daughter.''
However, patrolman PC Thomas Needham told the court Prince never even mentioned her reasoning for making the journey.
Prosecuting Arshad Khan told the JPs: ''She never even attempted to ring for a taxi.
"Was this such a crisis that the only option was to get into a car and drive to her child when its grandmother had looked after the child on previous occasions?
"If the defendant had gone on a night out and had alcohol, surely she would have taken steps to book a taxi because that is the sensible option.''
But Prince's lawyer Kevin Batch said: "In an emergency, people do not think clearly and there is no Steve McQueen in the Towering Inferno playing the hero who saves the day.
"As far as this young woman is concerned, after all she has been through, this was an a real life emergency and she needed to get home."
Magistrates told Prince there were "no compelling reasons" for her to drive and there were plenty of other transport options.
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The mum had asked to be spared disqualification due to "special reasons", but was refused and banned from the roads for 14 months.
She admitted drink driving and was slapped with a £350 fine as well as being ordered to pay £535 in costs and surcharges.
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