AFTER being pulled over for driving without any lights on, a 36-year-old woman failed to blow a specimen of breath with the right amount of pressure, a court heard.

Gina Dunford, 36 of Cricklade Road, appeared before Swindon magistrates on Wednesday charged with failing to provide a specimen of breath following the incident on December 15.

The court heard from Pauline Lambert, representing the Crown Prosecution Service, who said officers spotted Dunford’s Ford Fusion at 3.45am without her lights on and subsequently stopped her car. Smelling alcohol on her breath, a roadside test showed she had 116 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

It was when Dunford was taken to Gablecross she failed to provide a specimen of breath as she didn’t hold a sustained breath at the required pressure.

Defending, Gordon Hotson explained to the court how his client suffered with asthma and had the lung age of 49 which could have resulted in the second reading at the police station. He also told magistrates that his client was seeking help for her drinking problem and had sold her car as she knew she would face disqualification.

Dunford, who pleaded guilty, was disqualified from driving for 15 months and told she must pay £235 and attend a drink driving rehabilitation course.