Woman's 'surprising' history
A 23-YEAR-OLD woman whose bail conditions stipulated she not drink any alcohol turned up to the Bundaberg Police Station more than four times over the limit.
Ashleigh Louise Flohr was on bail for eight offences including drink-driving, driving without a licence, driving while disqualified and obstructing police, when she arrived to report at the police station on May 11 just before 10am.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Barry Stevens told Bundaberg Magistrates Court a police officer asked Flohr if she had been drinking and she admitted to drinking some port that morning and some wine in the early morning.
"A breath test returned a reading of .214%," Sgt Stevens said.
"That is an extraordinarily high reading so early in the morning.
"That indicates to me she maybe has some sort of drinking problem."
Sgt Stevens said Flohr was on bail for driving offences including one incident where she drove drunk with a blood alcohol level of .138%.
The prosecutor said on one occasion Flohr was caught driving while her licence was disqualified and was caught driving again just two days later when she went to pick up her car from the police impound.
Lawyer Mary Buchanan said her client freely admitted to having a drinking problem.
"She has a problem with binge drinking and she's had it for a long time," Ms Buchanan said.
"It's surprising to see a 23-year-old woman in the dock with a history similar to hers."
Ms Buchanan said Flohr, who sat crying in the docks for much of the sentence, had administration skills and hoped to pursue a career after being released from jail.
"She's obviously very upset about being here today," she said.
Ms Buchanan said Flohr was determined to rehabilitate and had been attending AA meetings and was intending to go to a rehab centre at the Gold Coast.
"She has been diagnosed with depression," she said.
"Ms Flohr knows she has to pay for what she's done."
Magistrate Jennifer Batts sentenced Flohr to varying terms of imprisonment ranging from seven months down to 25 days with immediate parole release after already serving 25 days in custody.
Her licence was disqualified for almost eight years.
"Certainly it is surprising to see someone as young as you with that sort of traffic history," she said.
"You really must appreciate from this point that you do not have any entitlement to be driving for a very long time."
