A judge gave a serial drink-driver a chance to avoid jail because she is a woman.<\/p>\n
Victoria Parry, 30, hit three other cars after downing a bottle of wine.<\/p>\n
Judge Sarah Buckingham said Parry, an alcoholic who had escaped an abusive relationship, would have gone “straight down the stairs” to jail if she were a man.<\/p>\n
Although Parry “deserved” a prison term, the judge gave her three months to address her issues.<\/p>\n
The comments are being investigated by a judicial watchdog.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Tim Sapwell said Parry caught a van’s rear bumper, a Vauxhall Insignia’s wing mirror, then the side of a BMW “very heavily” in the crash.<\/p>\n
He told Warwick Crown Court it caused her Fiat to spin off the A46 near Stratford-upon-Avon into a wooded area where it caught fire.<\/p>\n
An off-duty police officer pulled her from the car, and Parry, who was banned from the road at the time, told him she had drunk a bottle of wine and “shouldn’t be driving”, Mr Sapwell said.<\/p>\n
She was arrested, and registered a reading of almost three times the legal limit at a police station.<\/p>\n
Lucy Tapper, defending, said Parry had a “considerable drink problem” after a 15-year abusive relationship, but had begun to tackle her alcohol intake.<\/p>\n
The judge said: “If Miss Parry was a man, there is no question it would have been straight down the stairs, because this is a shocking case of dangerous driving against a background of two previous convictions for excess alcohol.”<\/p>\n
But, she said, the offence had been committed in May 2018, and Parry, who had admitted dangerous driving, had not been in trouble since.<\/p>\n
“She has clearly got an alcohol problem. She is, whether she admits it or not, an alcoholic,” the judge said.<\/p>\n
Deferring sentencing for three months, judge Buckingham told Parry she “richly deserved” an immediate custodial term of 18 months.<\/p>\n
“I want to see whether you can really address the issues rather than paying lip service,” she said.<\/p>\n
She ordered Parry to abstain from alcohol, attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and pay for private counselling.<\/p>\n
If Parry complied, she said, the custody would not be made immediate.<\/p>\n
“If you don’t comply, I will conclude that you are not worthy of the chance,” the judge added.<\/p>\n
The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office confirmed it received a complaint about the remarks attributed to the judge.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"