A drug -driving woman failed to provide a blood test after telling police she was scared of needles, despite confessing to snorting cocaine.
Sophie Cork had been driving under the influence when she was pulled over in her Fiat 500 on September 24, this year. Officers had been tipped off when they stopped her in Crewe at 4.50am.
The 25-year-old confessed to having snorted cocaine and was arrested. But when they told her they needed a blood sample Cork claimed she was terrified of needles following a harrowing childhood encounter with them.
She confessed to being a cocaine addict ‘for years’ but at a custody facility in Cheshire she burst into tears when she saw the needle.
Cork claimed she had a phobia of needles and was left with her 'teeth chattering' and her 'body shaking' when they tried to take her blood.
She added that her crippling fear arose from having to take weekly blood tests as a child, due to her medical condition.
At South Cheshire Magistrates’ Court she said: ''I could not do the test as I was petrified of needles. When they tried to take my blood my teeth were chattering, I was shaking and I was crying my eyes out.
"But I said 'please do it again' because I knew this was going to look bad on me. I said 'Please do it, do it again. I know it was wrong.' I tried to do it again but I was shaking so bad that the nurse refused to take a sample.
"She said it was unsafe to do so. So, I did not refuse that blood test. I was in a very sticky situation. The nurse refused because she said it was unsafe and it could cause some injury. I was shaking so bad. I have got nerve problems, so I take tablets for it.
"When I take a blood test my whole body shakes and my teeth chatter.''
As a result of her failure to provide blood Cork was fined £230 and ordered to pay £212 in costs and victim surcharge as well as being banned from driving for 14 months.
At the court Cork, who works part-time, admitted the charge, having confessed to snorting cocaine before her arrest.
Despite this, she insisted: ''I wanted to fight the charge - however I do not have the money so I have pleaded guilty. What happened is that I have a terrible phobia of needles. It is in my medical records and I have since I was a little girl."
Cork added: "I have had an addiction but ever since I got pulled, my addiction has been a hell of a lot better. I got pulled two weeks ago and I have since passed a drug test - so, there is a positive way to look at things. It was bad what happened but it's a positive thing for me because I have come off drugs.
To assist with sentencing, the legal advisor told the magistrates that it was not a deliberate refusal to provide a sample so she could be sentenced at a lower level.
He said Cork acknowledged to police that she would not have given a blood test in any event and that if she had taken the test she would have been in court for driving with cocaine or its derivative benzoylecgonine instead.
"We accept it is unfortunate that there is no expert evidence about your needle phobia," Chairwoman Leonie Giles said, "But we also accept that you were honest at the time and that you were honest about saying you were addressing the situation with your cocaine addiction, that is promising news. We would like to wish you well in continuing to address the issues."
Had Cork taken the blood test she might have faced jail time for the drug-drive charges - so dodged potential jail time.
