Suffolk woman who drank vodka for weight loss drink drove

Rachel Nicholls, 49, (pictured) drank the spirit with a can of coke and claimed in court she did not know it was alcoholic and thought it was ‘like a soft drink’

A school dinner lady who drank vodka after hearing TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp suggest it could help weight loss was caught drink-driving when she crashed her car into a row of vehicles.

Rachel Nicholls, 49, of Kesgrave, Suffolk, drank the spirit with a can of coke and claimed in court she did not know it was alcoholic and thought it was ‘like a soft drink’.

But she ended up crashing into several vehicles before she stopped and a taxi driver pulled the keys from the ignition of her Honda Accord.

Nicholls was found to be more than three times the drink-drive limit with 114mcgs of alcohol in 100mls of breath. The legal limit is 35mcgs.

Allsopp, who is best known for presenting Channel 4 property show Location, Location, Location, recently revealed how she had lost two stone by eating and drinking healthily.

The star also revealed she had swapped drinking wine for vodka martinis or vodka and sparkling water.

Nicholls admitted drink-driving and wept throughout the hearing at Ipswich magistrates court.

She was banned from driving for 26 months, fined £170 and ordered to carry out 110 hours of unpaid work.

The court heard Nicholls had been to her daily Zumba class on November 13 before going to her job as a as school dinner supervisor, leaving at about 1.20pm.

Presenter Kirstie Allsopp, pictured right after losing weight, recently revealed how she had lost two stone by eating and drinking healthily and swapping wine for vodka martinis

Her solicitor Carol Robinson said: ‘At some point during the day, she heard Kirstie Allsopp discussing the low calorific content of vodka

‘Keen on reducing her calorie intake, having recently lost two-and-half stone, she bought a bottle from Tesco, before driving round the local area posting advertising for her husband’s motorcycle business.

‘She hadn’t managed to eat, but had brought food away from work and pulled over to eat some pasta. In doing so, she also consumed the vodka with a can of coke.

‘While checking her husband’s business emails, she got carried away. She’d never had vodka and thought it was like a soft drink, but felt unsteady after throwing the partly finished bottle away.

‘After less than a mile of driving, her snap-on glasses broke and fell in her lap. At that point she came to a halt and the taxi driver approached her car.’

Ms Robinson said Nicholls was in a ‘low mood’ at the time, due to seasonal affective disorder symptoms.

She added that she was ‘very remorseful’ and had not touched alcohol since the incident.

Prosecutor Wayne Ablitt said Nicholls was followed by taxi driver Stuart Snowling after he saw her driving unsteadily.

She came to a stop and he approached the driver’s door of her car, before removing the keys from the ignition and waiting for police.

Nicholls, who had never been in court before, was also given the option of taking a rehabilitation course by magistrates to reduce the length of her driving ban.  



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