A mum who took cocaine before flipping her car onto its roof with her friend’s toddler in the back has been told she could have killed the child.
Emily Blackman, 37, was almost six times the drug-drive limit when she crashed her Volkswagen T-Roc in Folkestone while caring for the two-year-old.
The court heard she had only passed her driving test four months before.
Miraculously, both she and the child escaped uninjured – and despite her reckless actions, Blackman has since been forgiven by her friend.
But magistrates told her: “Quite frankly, we are very concerned that you had not long passed your test and you got in a car after using cocaine, and the reading was extremely high.
“The fact you were prepared to drive with a child in the car, well, we find that shocking. The child could have been killed.”
Blackman had been looking after the youngster in November last year so her friend could attend a doctor’s appointment.
But in a bid to soothe the child, she decided to take them for a drive – a decision that led to a crash in Wilton Road and her arrest.
Prosecutor Dylan Bradshaw said Blackman pulled out of a junction and clipped another vehicle, causing hers to overturn.
Neighbours rushed out after hearing the impact, and police arrived soon after.
“She admitted to being the driver and was cooperative, but she failed a drug swipe, which tested positive for a class A substance,” said Mr Bradshaw.
Further tests revealed 291 micrograms of benzoylecgonine – the breakdown product of cocaine – per 100ml of blood in her system. The legal limit is just 50.
Appearing before Folkestone magistrates last month, Blackman, of the town’s Plimsoll Avenue, admitted drug-driving and driving without due care and attention.
But sentencing was adjourned until Friday (July 4) to allow for a probation report to be prepared.
The court was told she has struggled with her mental health, suffering from severe anxiety and PTSD following two bereavements and the breakdown of a long-term relationship in the past year.
A probation officer who interviewed her said: “She’s riddled with remorse and guilt.”
Blackman was handed a 12-month community order, including 15 rehabilitation sessions, a mental health treatment requirement, and 80 hours of unpaid work.
She was also banned from driving for 28 months and fined £120.
She must also pay a £114 victim surcharge and £85 in court costs, which she will repay at £20 a month as she is on benefits.
The chairman of the bench reiterated the severity of her actions in sentencing, telling her: “It was generous of the mother to forgive you – it could have been much worse.”
