Tara Wolf has received several fines for driving-related offences even though she says she only drove a short distance before police stopped her in October.

Dorinda Stahl, the Crown prosecutor, told Kindersley provincial court on Feb. 20 that she had a joint submission to present. Wolf’s charges included driving with a blood-alcohol content higher than the legal limit, breaching an undertaking, driving while suspended and driving an unregistered vehicle.

Court heard that police were called to a disturbance in a Kindersley trailer court on Oct. 30 and officers conducted a traffic stop after they arrived on scene. Wolf was the driver and Stahl said police detected a strong odour of alcohol on her breath.

She noted that the readings from Wolf’s breath samples were both 130 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood, which is higher than the legal limit of 80 mg.

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Stahl told the court the Crown was proceeding on a first offence for drinking and driving, but the accused has a criminal history.

“The Crown is at a crossroads with respect to Ms. Wolf,” she said. She was convicted in September 2017 of committing an assault and her struggles with addictions have led to her recent charges, Stahl said.

The prosecutor said Wolf’s addictions are “out of control” and she should be admitted to a treatment facility. Stahl said the Crown doesn’t know what to do but should ask for jail time. It was lucky no one was injured by Wolf’s driving, she added.

Murray Pelletier, the woman’s Legal Aid defence lawyer, said it’s true his 38-year-old client has issues with addiction. The lawyer said he believes Wolf has family-of-origin issues and she self medicates to deal with them.

Wolf told the court she was wrong to drive but she was only driving for one block. She explained that she has chronic pain from various injuries, part of the reason she self medicates.

The accused was told the community is getting tired of her exploits.

Judge Robert Jackson ordered Wolf to pay a fine of $1,000 with a victim surcharge of $300 for driving under the influence, $580 including the surcharge for unregistered driving, and $200 including the surcharge for driving while suspended.

He ordered her to serve a 12-month driving prohibition. Wolf spent time in custody, and Jackson sentenced her to one day time served for the breach of her undertaking.

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