A WOMAN was caught staggering across the road drunk in charge of a double buggy.
Motorists were forced to slow down as Nicola Gardner zig-zagged across a busy road with an open can of Stella lager in the pram.
Fearful the buggy, carrying a two-year-old toddler and a four-month old baby, would topple over, some drivers stopped to make sure they were safely on the pavement.
When police arrived at Old Chester Road, Higher Bebington, Wirral, on November 4 last year Gardner did not even know the children’s names.
The 37-year-old, from St Anne Street, Birkenhead, was convicted of being drunk in charge of children.
She appeared before Wirral magistrates for sentencing yesterday.
Anna Beeho, prosecuting, said: “When officers approached they could smell intoxicants.
When they asked about the children she said they belonged to the daughter of a friend.
She added that she did not know their names.
Officers said the shouting was upsetting the children.
Soon after, Gardner told police she was an alcoholic.
She denied being drunk in charge of the children but was found guilty at trial.
She admitted criminal damage committed while she was held in a cell.
Tessa Hinder, defending, said her client was of previous good character.
Magistrates sentenced Gardner to a 12-month supervision order and sent her on an alcohol rehabilitation course. She also has to pay £250 costs.
THE LIVERPOOL ECHO 
At rush hour.
