A WOMAN who missed her husband’s funeral because she could not take time off work downed a bottle of alcohol in her car after she became concerned about her employment.

Halina Paskovska was then spotted by police as she drove erratically in Wisbech town centre - and she gave a breath test reading almost four times the legal limit.

Solicitor Tiffany Meredith told Fenland magistrates: “She could not cope, and started to self medicate with alcohol.

“She has now lost her job because of alcohol, because of the amount of days she was taking off because she felt ill.”

Paskovska’s husband died in Lithuania last year, but she could not travel to his funeral.

Ms Meredith said: “She could not afford to lose her job. Her two sons went to the funeral and sorted out all the paperwork; as a result, her elder son lost his job, and her younger son lost his place on a college course. It has been a very difficult year for the family.”

Prosecutor Nicola Rice told how police saw a Mondeo car driven by Paskova swerve towards the centre of the road at 11.15pm on December 13. Stopped in Churchill Road, the 43-year-old smelled strongly of alcohol.

Ms Meredith said Paskovska had finished her night shift before the incident.

She explained: “She was not herself that day, she had just been moved at work, to a different department. It was physical work and she had an injury to her arm. She spoke to her boss, but he said that if she could not do the job, she should look elsewhere. She made the decision to go to the shop and buy a bottle of alcohol. She drank it straight away, outside the shop, and then drove home.”

Paskovaska, of Kingfisher Drive, Wisbech, had earlier admitted drink driving in Norwich Road at Wisbech on December 13.

After reading a report, magistrates gave her a 12-week suspended jail sentence. During the next year she will be supervised by the probation service, and must undertake an alcohol treatment programme. The court banned her from driving for 32 months and ordered her to pay �85 costs.