Woman who smashed car while drink driving spared jail due to trauma of dad and uncle's murders

A bar worker who downed Smirnoff Ice and Jagerbombs at work before smashing into a parked vehicle and driving off with one wheel missing has been spared jail.

Jenni Smyth, 26, was caught by an off-duty police officer who was alarmed by the 'sparks coming from' her vehicle and the 'extensive damage' following the collision, Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday. But Smyth avoided prison due to the "untold effect" the murders of both her dad and uncle had on her as a child.

The vehicle was driven with its front bumper and front off-side wheel missing before being parked in a bus lane. Drag marks leading from the motorway were also noted, reports the Liverpool Echo.

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The court heard that a disabled resident of New Hey Road in Woodchurch, Wirral, was "woken by a loud crash" at 5.30am on February 27 this year. She looked outside her window to find a small grey car had smashed into her vehicle and "shunted it up the road".

Joanne Moore, prosecuting, said the defendant's vehicle "became stuck inside her car", but she reversed out and drove away from scene and onto the M53. Around an hour later at around 6.30am, an off-duty police officer, who was on her way to begin her shift, spotted Smyth turning right onto Woodstock Road in Liscard from Mill Lane. She said she was "surprised the vehicle was capable of being driven at all" after noticing 'sparks' emitting from it, and reported the incident upon her arrival at work.

Her colleagues attended the scene at 7.30am and found the offending car parked in a bus lane on Smyth's street. The police attended Smyth's home and were initially told by her sister that the motorist