A WOMAN whose car collided with a lamppost near her home at Cumwhinton near Carlisle while she was over the drink drive limit told police she was struggling with postnatal depression.

Police were alerted on January 14 last year after witnesses saw the Jaguar E-Pace car being driven by 36-year-old Natalie Jones collide with a lamppost before then becoming "wedged" on a roadside stone bollard.

It happened at Thornedge, Cumwhinton, just a few hundred yards from her home.

After being called to the scene, police went to the defendant's home and found the defendant there. They administered a breath test; it was confirmed that she had 109mcg of alcohol in every 100mls of breath.

The legal limit for driving is 35mcg.

At Carlisle’s Rickergate court, she admitted driving while over the prescribed limit for alcohol.

Peter Bardsley, prosecuting, said that police arrived to find the defendant’s car was stuck on a roadside stone bollard at Thornedge, where Jones lives. The stones were placed on the verge to prevent people from driving on the grass.

Trye tracks at the scene showed that the car had left the road and collided with a lamppost before becoming stuck. When officer’s arrived at Jones’s home she appeared upset and mentioned her struggle with postnatal  depression.

“She was using alcohol as a coping mechanism,” said Mrs Bardsley, adding that the defendant had no previous convictions.

Steven Marsh, for Jones, said she had suffered from postnatal depression since the birth of her youngest child and was currently signed off work.

She had worked with Recovery Steps [a local mental health and addiction support service] last year and engaged well.

“In the summer, she wasn’t drinking at all and went back to work," said Mr Marsh. But Jones was later afflicted with extreme anxiety and prescribed medication. She had still not returned to work, said Mr Marsh.

On the day of the offence, Jones was driving home after dropping a relative off at an event when, on the way home, she stopped and bought a bottle of wine, though she already had one at her house.

She intended to drink the wine in the evening.

“But she started drinking one bottle by herself in the afternoon at home,” said Mr Marsh. Jones planned to drive only 400 yards to a place where she could park, enjoy the view, and have “time to herself.”

"That was her intention," said Mr Marsh.

But after driving 200 yards she realised she should not have been doing using the car and decided to turn around. It was as she attempted to make a three-point turn that she hit the lamppost and roadside stone.

"She was 200 yards or so from her house," continued the lawyer.

Then the police arrived. Apart from this incident, said Mr Marsh, Jones had an “unblemished record” and no previous convictions. Magistrates noted the high level of alcohol in the defendant’s system.

They imposed a 25-month ban and a fine of £538 along with a £215 surcharge. Jones must also pay £85 costs. She was offered the drink driver rehabilitation course.

As she left the dock, she told magistrates: “I whole-heartedly apologise for what I have done.”

For information and help relating to postnatal depression, look the page set up by the mental health charity Mind on this link; there are also helplines and information available on the APNI website (Association for Post Natal Illness).