Maree Lawley, 54, appeared in the Ballarat Magistrates Court on Monday.

Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Clint Prebble said the woman was driving along Bungaree-Creswick Road near the intersection with Springbank Road, before driving down an embankment. 

When police arrived, they noticed she was “quite slurred, with breath that smelt strongly of alcohol”. 

When she was taken to the Ballarat Police Station, Lawley attempted four breath tests, but failed to provide enough air to provide an accurate reading. A blood sample later taken at 8.50pm showed she was at 0.236 blood alcohol concentration. 

Defence lawyer David Tamanika said his client has “no ongoing alcohol issues”, and the event was a one-off due to illness in her family. 

“She knows it was an incredibly dangerous and unfortunate choice that she made on that night … there are going to be significant impacts on her employment as a result,” he said. 

Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz said it was just “lucky she hasn’t been charged with careless driving” as a result of the incident.

“She could have killed herself, but significantly she could have killed someone else, another innocent person on the road,” she said.

“My goodness gracious me, that's a lot of alcohol that's been consumed … I know your driving had been affected that night.

“But given your age and lack of any criminal history, you've come before the court today with an exemplary record.”

Lawley had her licence cancelled and disqualified for 23 months, and was fined $1000.