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PC Lauren Payne was found drunk in her patrol carCredit: Hyde News & Pictures<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old, who was in uniform, stunk of alcohol and had a near-empty bottle of gin in her bag, Reading Magistrates’ Court<\/a> was told.<\/p>\n Payne sobbed as she avoided prison<\/a> today after pleading guilty to drink driving whilst on duty.<\/p>\n She was instead handed a ten week sentence, suspended for one year, after the judge heard becoming a police<\/a> officer was her dream job.<\/p>\n The court was told Payne had been sent to work from Aldershot Police Station in Hampshire<\/a> due to staff shortages on January 17.<\/p>\n At around 3.30pm, she was released from her duties and informed her line manager she was on her way back to her usual area of Andover to finish her day.<\/p>\n But the force control room was concerned after receiving “inaudible communications” from Payne.<\/p>\n Colleagues went to Popham Services where they found the cop slumped over the wheel of her patrol car at 4.30pm – 30 minutes before her shift was due to end.<\/p>\n PC Claire Chivers, who investigated the incident, said officers initially believed Payne had suffered a “medical episode” but then smelt alcohol.<\/p>\n When she was breathalysed, Payne had 137 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath and she was arrested.<\/p>\n The court heard worked as a police staff investigator outside Southampton Central for four years until July 2024 when she became a police constable.<\/p>\n Charlotte Branfield, defending, said she had been involved in a car crash seven days before the incident.<\/p>\n She claimed Payne had suffered an extreme stress reaction and made the “fateful decision to open the bottle of gin and drink it”.<\/p>\n Ms Branfield added: “This is a very sad case of a young woman who has long suffered from mental health issues.<\/p>\n “It was a dream, in her words, to become a police officer, formed during her struggles as a teenager.<\/p>\n “She wanted to help people who were vulnerable and she felt the police force was the most effective way of doing that.”<\/p>\n Payne was sacked from Hampshire Police following a misconduct hearing.<\/p>\n She was placed on the College of Policing’s Barred List for five years and has lost her driving licence<\/a>.<\/p>\n District Judge Samuel Goozee accepted Payne was suffering from alcohol dependence and a deterioration in her mental health<\/a>.<\/p>\n He ordered her to complete up to 15 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days, 150 hours of unpaid community work and an alcohol monitoring requirement for 120 days.<\/p>\n The judge said: “At the time of the offence you were endeavouring to access community-based support.<\/p>\n “You have made focused steps to address your alcohol dependency since you were arrested for this offence.”<\/p>\n
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