A five-year driving ban for getting behind the wheel while almost five times the legal limit has failed to stop a young Albury mother from doing it all over again.
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This time, Julia Lea Heffernan was pulled over by police while driving along a major Lavington road with a mid-range prescribed concentration of alcohol.
But the reading she later provided at Albury police station was just below that for a high-range.
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Driving while disqualified and with the 0.141 blood alcohol reading has earned the 23-year-old a nine-month jail term.
Her disqualified driving and the fact she had a passenger, who tried to claim he was the driver, aggravated her offending, magistrate Richard Funston told Heffernan while sentencing her in Albury Local Court.
Mr Funston, in imposing a nine-month intensive corrections order, told Heffernan she knew she was "facing a jail sentence".
"But the reality of it is this is a very serious crime," he said.
"Really, just on a whole range of levels, this is extremely serious behaviour.
"And you weren't doing that well on the (community corrections) order either.
"You then drove with a blood alcohol reading of .14, and you're driving while disqualified."
The court was told that Heffernan was disqualified from driving for five years and placed on community corrections order last year after pleading guilty to high-range drink-driving, for a blood alcohol reading of 0.22.
She had completed just 40 of 120 hours of community work as part of the order.
Defence lawyer Angus Lingham said "quite clearly" what his client did on the night of April 26 was "extremely serious offending", but there were extenuating circumstances.
"My client has a significant and very difficult job looking after a three-year-old and her 13-year-old brother," he said.
Mr Lingham said Heffernan had no intention of driving that night as her mother was going to take her home, but the woman left early without her.
Having downed seven beers, Heffernan chose to drive.
Heffernan was ordered to complete 100 hours of community work and was also disqualified from driving for nine months.