Drug and alcohol addiction charity director caught drug driving

The director of a drug and alcohol charity was caught driving whilst under the influence of cannabis and alcohol three times in only two years.

University graduate Eliza Loftus, 26, from Middlewich, Cheshire, was arrested again after she crashed her Ford Ka in a tree whilst almost three times the alcohol limit, before fleeing the wreckage to hide behind a bush.

An officer alerted to her whereabouts by an eyewitness shouted 'Police. Come out' to see a sheepish Loftus emerging from the undergrowth saying: 'I am sorry.'

Inquiries revealed she had previously been convicted of drink driving in April 2022 and just a month later was found guilty of driving whilst under the influence of cannabis.

She has now been banned from driving for 40 months and is getting counselling from the very service she leads. 

At Crewe magistrate court, Loftus admitted drink driving. She is now getting help for mental health issues from the Be Well Stay Well charity of which she has been marketing director and chief fundraiser since 2022.

The most recent incident occurred at 12.24am on April 7, a year after Loftus completed a 12 month road ban for the previous drink and drug driving offences. 

The court heard she had been on a night out with friends but decided to drive the two miles home following an argument.

Miss Tara Thomas, prosecuting, said: 'Police responded to reports of a road traffic collision and that the driver was possibly intoxicated.

'Upon arrival the officer saw a white Ford Ka crashed sideways into a tree on the side of the road. The officer was alerted by a member of the public that the driver was hiding in a nearby bush

'The officer approached the bush, approximately 20m away from the crash, and shouted "Police. Come out."

'A female, who is the defendant before the court, emerged and said, "I am sorry." She was asked if she was the driver and she said, "Yes". She said: "I have been trying to call my boyfriend."

'The officer noted the defendant was unsteady on her feet and he could smell intoxicants on her breath. A roadside breath test was requested, that was over the specified limit and she was therefore arrested. 

'The defendant does have a relevant previous conviction from April 2022 and there is a drug driving conviction from May 2022. This is the second offence of drink driving in a ten-year period.'

A blood test confirmed Loftus - who lives with her parents and younger brother - had 215 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, the legal limit being 80mg.

Her barrister Patrick Kelly said: 'There is a genuine apology and expression of remorse from her. This is a lesson learnt, a major lesson learnt, something that is never going to be repeated. This is going to have a huge impact on her and others, especially on family, bitterly disappointed as she is with herself to find herself here.

'She uses alcohol but only on occasional weekends. By 2023 she was diagnosed with moderate depression and anxiety and she takes medication for that but has struggled with it since about 2014. On the night in question, she had been at her partner's pub.

'She had been drinking there when two friends came and they decided to go elsewhere. They went elsewhere and one of her friends had a bit of a go at her. There was an argument and she made a stupid decision to go home and not take a taxi.

'She was going around the bend when she lost control. It was a sideways collision, the front offside colliding with a tree. She was doing about 40 mph when she lost control. The airbags went off and she got out of the car.

'She went into a panic. She started to ring friends and her boyfriend and waited for them to come along. A resident came out and asked if she wanted an ambulance but she declined that and said she was waiting for her friends. 

'It is right that she was hiding behind a bush but that was due to her panic and nothing else. When police called her she immediately came out.

'She explained that she was struggling with her mental health and officers were so concerned the officers got a mental health nurse to talk with her and calmed her down.'

The court heard Loftus graduated from university five years ago and is an experienced chain support consultant. 

As well as her job at the charity, she also earns £30,000 per year as a policy advisor and researcher into Sustainability, Emissions and Net-Zero issues for the trade association Ceramics UK.

A probation officer told the court: 'We have talked about her drinking and she is certainly not alcohol dependent. She does not drink every day. Sometimes she goes out and has one or two then stops. Every now and then she will have far too much.'

Loftis was also ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.