Belinda Harty, 35, was found to be driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.339 when she lost control of her car and crashed into a traffic pole on August 24 this year, police told the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court yesterday. 

The court heard a passerby stopped to help and found Harty in a confused state. 

Harty told the witness that the windows of her car had become foggy and she couldn’t see before attempting to re-start the car a number of times. 

The witness stopped her from getting back behind the wheel until emergency services arrived. 

Police discovered Harty’s license included an interlock condition but there was no device fitted to the car and a preliminary breath test conducted at the scene returned a positive reading. 

Harty and her daughter were taken to the Ballarat Base Hospital where a sample of Harty’s blood was taken by police for analysis.  

In court, the police informant said it “was an extremely high reading and we are amazed she is alive.”

After her release from hospital, Harty was interviewed by police and she admitted to driving the car under the influence of alcohol and said she was going to get ice cream for daughter before she swerved and lost control. 

The court heard Harty had become reliant on alcohol as a coping mechanism following a succession of deaths in her immediate family.

The court heard Harty had lost her brother early in 2017 and started depending on alcohol since she lost him but her defence lawyer said this accident was a big scare for her with daughter in the car. 

The court heard Harty had since engaged with GP for anxiety and depression and has also been diagnosed with PTSD. 

Her lawyer said she had sent her car to the wreckers and has not driven since and is plagued by nightmares about the car crash. 

The police prosecutor agreed with the defence position that a community corrections order with mandatory drug and alcohol counselling was an appropriate punishment. 

Magistrate Gregory Robinson said Harty’s actions were reckless and irresponsible and it was the role of the court to punish those who do the wrong thing. 

"I find it truly shocking you would drive affected by alcohol to that extent with a child in the car,” he said. 

“It is one thing to risk your own life but to risk your child’s life and the lives of other road users is a completely different thing.”

He warned her that any further driving offences would result in her spending time behind bars. 

“If the CCO is breached, which is an offence in itself, if that happens you can be re-sentenced and, I can’t emphasis enough, that type of driving will lead you jail for your own and the public's protection,” he said. 

Harty was sentenced to an 18 month community correction order with 200 hours of community work with rehabilitation for alcohol abuse and a license cancellation for three years.