Don’t show up drunk to your drunk driving trial.
That’s the advice from the North Vancouver RCMP after a North Vancouver woman netted a charge of driving with a blood alcohol level over the legal limit after allegedly driving away from court drunk after appearing on a previous impaired charge.
Police got a call from staff at the North Vancouver provincial court after 57-year-old Deborah Gail Reynolds showed up late to a court date on the morning of March 29 of this year.
As Reynolds left the court, staff there “had sufficient concerns to call the RCMP and make a report,” said Sgt. Peter DeVries, spokesman for the department.
DeVries said police responded quickly and managed to intercept the woman before she returned to her home in the Dollarton area.
Reynolds now faces a charge of driving with a blood alcohol reading of over .08 on that day. Reynolds has not yet entered a plea to that charge and the allegation has not yet been proven in court.
Court records show that on the day she attracted the attention of court staff, Reynolds was supposed to attend court for a trial set on charges of impaired driving and driving over .08 on July 31, 2017.
A few days later, on April 2, she was handed a 12-month driving ban and a $1,250 fine after pleading guilty to driving with a blood alcohol level over .08.
Court documents indicate Reynolds was originally handed a 90-day administrative driving ban under the Motor Vehicle Act on July 31, 2017, but appealed that decision and had a new hearing ordered in October 2017.
Reynolds was previously charged with driving over .08 in North Vancouver in February 2013 but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of driving without due care and attention and was fined $1,150 in March 2014.
Reynolds is set to appear in court on the new charge next month.
