A 36-year-old mother from Kent, England, Hayley Berry, admitted to attempting to drop off her children at school while high on cocaine. The incident, which took place in November 2024, prompted concerned parents to take her keys and walk her children to school to prevent a tragedy from happening.
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According to the KentOnline, the incident took place on November 11, 2024. Berry was driving her vehicle and decided to stop right in the middle of Grosvenor Road, Broadstairs. Parents quickly noticed she was unfit to drive, so they decided to act themselves to save her and the kids.
Prosecutor Fish detailed what happened back in November while in court. "A man took the keys because she looked like she wasn't in a fit state [to drive]," Fish said. "He put his hand up and stopped her and did take the keys but then she parked up and some women walked the children to school."
Police were called and, after arriving at the scene, arrested Hayley Berry and then charged her. While appearing before magistrates on Friday, March 7, 2025, Berry admitted to drug driving and driving while unfit through drugs.
Drug Driving
Reportedly, as revealed in court, Berry's blood was tested at the time. It gave a reading of 83 micrograms of Benzoylecgonine per liter of blood. Benzoylecgonine is a cocaine by-product, and the legal limit is 50 micrograms per liter of blood. While not over the legal limit, Berry also had GHB in her system.
In regards to the GHB, Berry's defense attorney, Nigel Numas, read out a reference written by her cocaine sponsor. "The process [of her trying to beat cocaine] has been going on a couple of years, but a man she was seeing gave her what she thought was a legal high and she drank it and didn't realize it was GHB," the reference reads. "She's had two relapses [in the 24 months] so she's making great strides, but she was naive about what she drank."
The chairman of the bench called it "one of the worst examples of drug driving" he has ever seen. "You had your youngest children in the back of the car and you were out of it," he told Berry. "I don't want to think what could have happened."
Hayley Berry was sentenced to eight weeks in prison but her term was suspended for 12 months as per KentOnline. She was also disqualified from driving for 30 months and will play a victim surcharge of close to $200 and $110 in court costs. Finally, she will have to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.
