A BARROW mum drove her eight-year-old daughter while almost three times over the drink driving limit - so she could be given her Mothers’ Day card on time. 

Pamela McCormick, 44, was seen weaving in and out of traffic, narrowly avoiding the central reservation as she drove her Honda Civic on the A590 near Ulverston. Her daughter was in the front passenger seat, crying hysterically, a court has heard. 

McCormick, of Abbey Road, claims to be “overcome with an overwhelming feeling of regret and anguish” after finding herself in the dock for dangerous driving and driving over the limit. She confessed she could barely remember the incident. 

Preston Crown Court heard that McCormick had been at a local pub with her husband on the evening of March 5. The B&B owner, who had been drinking white wine and lager, deliberately drove the long route home so her daughter could listen to a new CD she had bought. 

But their journey was brought to an abrupt stop when McCormick mounted the kerb and was stopped by uniformed officers on patrol in Ulverston. 

Hanifa Patel, prosecuting, said: “She identified herself to the officer and when the officer looked to the passenger side, the defendant’s eight-year-old daughter was crying hysterically.” 

A roadside breath test showed McCormick to be almost three times over the limit and she was arrested. 

During interview she told officers her daughter was staying overnight at her older one’s house, six miles away, but she had decided to collect her so she could give her a Mothers’ Day card when she got up the following morning. 

Richard Vardon, defending, said: “She is an ordinary, hard-working woman. She was shocked and upset when she saw the blue lights. She panicked and drove into the kerb. “She remembers very little about the previous events.” 

McCormick pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and drink driving. 

Judge Jonathan Gibson, sentencing, said: “Plainly your driving was dangerous and there was the potential for serious injury. “Fortunately there wasn’t a crash.” 

He handed her a community order with 20 days rehabilitation, a £300 fine and banned her from driving for 18 months.