A GRANDMOTHER of seven who crashed her car, which left the road and careered down an embankment on Christmas Day, was found to be over the drink drive limit.

It was alleged that Diane Haycocks, 61 - who said she had little recollection of the incident - had almost hit a pedestrian.

The car ended up embedded in a metal fence on Queensway in Wrexham.

Haycocks, of Montgomery Road in Wrexham, was banned from driving for two years and fined £180 with £85 costs and a £30 surcharge when she appeared at North East Wales Magistrates’ Court at Mold yesterday.

Prosecutor Rhian Jackson said that at 10.35pm on December 25, North Wales Police received a report of a one vehicle road collision near Gwenfro School.

Officers attended and found a Ford Fiesta had left the main carriageway, went through metal railings and drove down an embankment at Bryn Hafod.

It had come to rest against a mental fence and there was substantial front end damage to the vehicle.

She provided a positive breath test at the roadside, was taken to hospital to be checked over, and when she was breath tested at the police station at 1.40am on Boxing Day she provided a reading of 64 microgrammes, compared to the legal limit of 35.

Interviewed by the police she said she did not remember leaving her brother’s house or having the collision.

Mrs Jackson said police spoke to a member of the public at the scene who said he was walking down the road at the time of the collision.

He said the car almost hit him but he had not made a formal statement.

Defending solicitor Stephen Edwards said his client was a lady of 61 of good character who had two grown up children and seven grandchildren.

“It is probably a Christmas Day that she will never forget, for the wrong reasons,” he explained.

He said it started as a normal happy day with everyone looking forward to Christmas Day.

But she and her husband, who was in court supporting her, had a falling out, which was nothing major.

She left and went to her brother’s house because of the atmosphere.

Haycocks had a meal with the brother and had drinks with the meal.

It was not a case of being so drunk that she did not remember anything.

Her car had gone down an embankment, she bumped her head and she had to go to hospital for a head injury to be checked out.

“The reason she cannot remember a lot about it is because she hit her head,” Mr Edwards said.

She had expressed extreme remorse about what had happened and the whole experience had left her feeling terribly upset.

Mr Edwards said she could not say why she left the road and went down the embankment which was quite steep.