A WOMAN who was caught drink-driving in Chester in 2011 but did not attend her sentencing hearing has been handed a 12-week jail term.

Susan Gannon, 59, formerly of Nelson Street, Chester, was caught committing the offence on Garden Lane in a Volkswagen Polo on May 17, 2011.

A breath test reading showed she was nearly four times the drink-drive limit after blowing 132 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, compared to the legal limit of 35.

Gannon had pleaded guilty to the offence at a court hearing in 2012 and the case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report.

But Gannon never turned up and a warrant had been issued for her arrest.

The warrant remained outstanding for seven years and, as part of a warrant withdrawal procedure at Chester Magistrates Court on Thursday, March 7, District Judge Nicholas Sanders sentenced her in her absence to 12 weeks in prison, and was banned from driving for three years and six weeks.

The court heard Gannon, originally from Australia, had either moved back here - or was in Peterborough.

A new warrant was issued for her arrest.