Drunk motorbike instructor escapes jail

Sandra Kenyon, 46, who fell off three times as she tried to teach a pupil in Bradford, was banned for three years and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work.

Magistrates in Bingley heard she had 131 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – almost four times the legal limit of 35 micrograms.

Two brandy bottles – one empty and one three-quarters full – were found inside her jacket after she was arrested.

Kenyon, of Northedge Park, Hipperholme, Halifax, was sentenced yesterday after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to riding a motorcycle over the limit.

Bench chairman John Parker, imposing a community order, told Kenyon that he and his two colleagues had considered sending her to prison. He ordered her to pay 85 costs and said her ban could be cut if she completes a drink-driving course.

The mother-of-two was arrested while teaching pupil Philip Hopkins on March 3.

Nadine Clough, prosecuting, said the instructor dropped her bike on the ground shortly after setting off from Holme Wood, in Bradford, and was "on the floor again" soon after.

Kenyon then set off towards Shipley, but Mr Hopkins lost sight of her as he approached a roundabout on Wrose Road.

"Over the radio link he heard Mrs Kenyon describe that her leg was hurting," Miss Clough said. "He realised she may have fallen off her bike again."

Police were called after people gathered around Kenyon. She told officers she had drunk the brandy the previous day.

Christopher Bird, defending, told the court his client had been a "competent and popular" instructor who had never been in trouble with the courts before.

Mr Bird said she was "well regarded by her pupils and her employers" at the Ridesafe Motorcycle School.

Kenyon had been driving since she was 17, had ridden motorcycles for 12 years and been an instructor for nine years.

According to Mr Bird, she said she had "no real excuse" for what she did. He said his client told him: "I'm truly ashamed for what I've done."