Officers were on patrol on the A270 Old Shoreham Road, Southwick, just before midnight on July 2, when they spotted a Renault Megane being driven with two deflated tyres.
“They signalled for the vehicle to stop and the driver – identified as Tracey Coles, 48, unemployed, of Kingsland Close, Shoreham – was required to take a roadside breath test, which she failed,” a police spokesperson said.
“She was arrested, at which point she became aggressive and used a number of expletives directed towards the two arresting officers. While handcuffed, she spat at one of the officers, narrowly missing his face.”
Coles was subsequently charged with assaulting an emergency worker and driving with 75mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath in her system. The legal limit is 35mcg.
At Brighton Magistrates’ Court on August 5, she was disqualified from driving for 17 months, police said. She was also ordered to pay a £240 fine, £85 costs, a £34 victim surcharge and £50 compensation to the officer.
Coles was among 279 motorists arrested in Sussex during a dedicated crackdown on drink and drug-drivers, which was run between June 11 and July 11. This was in addition to Sussex Police’s ‘routine roads policing duties 365 days year’.
A large proportion of the arrests (79) were in relation to an unlicensed music event in Steyning, police said.
The…
