A CARE home boss caught driving at more than twice the alcohol limit tried to avoid getting banned from the road by claiming her staff topped up her drinks during a work night out without her knowing.

Rachel Hind, 46, was stopped by cops when they saw her Audi A3 swerving onto the wrong side of the road after she left an Italian restaurant.

Hind had just treated 22 colleagues to dinner, but on her way home at 2am police officers had to take evasive action in their patrol van to avoid hitting Hind's car.

When whey asked her to get out of her car, the registered nurse struggled to get her keys out of the ignition.

She was also staggering in her high heels with slurred speech, glazed eyes and her breath smelling heavily of alcohol, the court heard.

It emerged the mum-of-two had been drinking Prosecco, gin and tonic and double vodkas with cola during one of her regular evenings out to thank their employees before heading to her £1.3million home in High Legh, near Knutsford, Cheshire.

At Manchester Magistrates' Court Hind admitted drink driving but tried to argue against disqualification claiming she thought she was sober at the time.

She added that she did not realise a colleague had unwittingly topped up her drinks throughout the evening in the belief she was getting a taxi home.

She claimed she was only swerving around in the road as she was attempting to avoid potholes. JPs banned her for 21 months and fined her £1,200 with costs of £740.

The incident occurred at 2.15am on June 23 this year after Hind had left the Italian Job restaurant in Urmston after the party had spent up to six hours eating and drinking.

John Richards prosecuting said: "The police evidence says she was swerving around.

"She was unsteady on her feet, her eyes were glazed and her speech was slurred. She was staggering and her breath stank of alcohol and she needed help into the police van.

"The crown say it would have been patently obvious to her that she was over the limit. You might think it’s strange that she didn’t realise her Prosecco had been topped up. In a short period of time, the glass goes from half full to full - how did she not realise that?

"In terms of the vodka and cola, even if it was the case that you’re dealing with single shots, you’re going to know if it’s got alcohol in it. But we are talking about doubles here. The crown says that it doesn’t stack up that she didn’t realise."

Tests showed Hind, who specialises in end-of-life care at her two care homes, blew a reading of 79 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

She told the hearing: "Every quarter of the year I take the staff out for a meal and drinks and to say thank you. I take them to an Italian restaurant and they have an open bar. I just pay the bill and let them have what they want.

"I would always drive there and drive home. Very occasionally, I would get a taxi but on that day I drove. I was on call that night which means I am in charge of running the night shift. I ordered a single gin and tonic.

"I always would have a gin and tonic and maybe a glass of Prosecco if I was having a three-course meal."

She added: "There were jugs of water all along the table which I had some of. I also had about four to five glasses of coke and I also had a glass of Prosecco with my main meal which was at about 10ish. I felt fine. I didn’t feel drunk, I felt fine to drive - I didn’t think I was taking a risk. I gave my colleague a lift home, which I wouldn’t have done if I felt drunk.

"But the road was full of potholes. It did occur to me that I hope the police don’t think I am a drunk driver because I am swerving to avoid the potholes. I have had four punctures in two years on that car from potholes.

"But I didn’t think I caused the police van to swerve. The police woman told me to open my car and I told her that I needed to shut the car door to turn off the engine - I did struggle to get the car keys out when I did this.

"I told the officer from the very beginning that I had been drinking, but it was only one gin and tonic and a glass of Prosecco over the course of a three course meal. I struggled out of the police van, but I was wearing high heels and I don’t normally wear them.

"I had a terrible row with my husband about it afterwards. I was disappointed in myself and I went into a spell of depression. I couldn’t tell anybody at work about it because I am their employer and I am supposed to be an example to them."

She claimed a colleague Amanda Jackson later confessed to topping up her drinks during the evening during a heart-to-heart meeting and added: "She went white in the face and said ‘I’m sorry, but I topped your drinks up that night.’

"She didn’t know I was driving home and she told me that she had been giving me drinks. She said she topped up my Prosecco once and that she had put Vodka and Cokes on the table.

"If I am drinking alcohol, it’s only gin and tonic that I am drinking which I know the smell and taste of. I don’t drink vodka. I have never been a vodka and cola - it just tasted of cola.

"Retrospectively, I can see now that I was drunk but at no point did I feel over the limit at the time, I was talking to my colleague all the way home in the car.

"My cousin died after being hit by an articulated lorry and my best friends nephew was also hit by a drunk driver. I haven’t drink driven until this incident where I unknowingly got into my car while over the limit and drove."

Work colleague Miss Jackson admitted unwittingly getting doubles for her boss.

She said: ''I made sure that the drinks and food were going to the right people. I went to the bar a couple of times and ordered about four vodka and cokes each time and I just brought them to the table and put them down there.

"I saw she was drinking coke but I didn’t realise she was supposed to be drinking normal coke.

"I was just going around the table filling the glasses up. I filled them all up.

"When she told me what happened I said ‘Oh my god, I am so sorry I bought you some drinks and I didn’t know you weren’t drinking.’

"It’s all my fault and she’s in all this trouble and I didn’t know she wasn’t drinking. She is my boss and she is amazing at what she does, and I feel terrible and will take the consequences.

"I am not going to lie, I was quite drunk that night - about a 7/10.”

Hind's lawyer Miss Stephanie Varle said: “In the UK, a lot of people drink a small amount of alcohol and drive.

"You have heard that she reasonably believed that she drank a gin and tonic and a glass of Prosecco and was safe to drive home. She did go out and consume some alcohol, which the law permits her to do - but she didn’t notice her drink had been topped up.

"This is a woman who works 60 hours and was on call on that evening. I submit that when she was moving around, she would not notice an odourless drink. She was driving at a normal speed and was simply trying to circumnavigate the potholes in the road.

"The alcohol limit does unfortunately permit people to lawfully get behind the wheel of a car after some drink."

But JP Edward Tasker, said: "Having heard all the evidence, we don’t accept that the defendant didn’t know that the drinks didn’t have alcohol in them."