Moment drink driver had to be told to ‘blow not suck’ at the roadside

A drink driver raised eyebrows when she struggled to give a breathalyser result at the roadside.

Tracey Campbell was being followed by police in Cambridge on January 24 when she suddenly stopped and got out of her car.

When officers went to speak to her they could smell alcohol on her breath, so they attempted to get a sample of breath using a breathalyser at the roadside.

But Campbell struggled to give the sample, being told to ‘blow’ into the machine twice before sucking at the machine and asking: ‘Am I blowing in or out?’

The incredulous police officer, who was recording on his body worn camera, replied: ‘How do you blow in? That’s impossible. That’s sucking, I’m telling you to blow.’

Campbell eventually managed to blow into the machine, but stopped blowing too early, causing the officer to threaten her with arrest if she failed to provide a sample on her next attempt.

Campbell had an argument with the police officer over whether she should ‘blow in or out’ (Picture: Cambridgeshire Police)

She eventually gave a sample that was four times over the legal limit.

At Huntingdon Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Campbell, 52, of Ring Fort Road, Cambridge, was disqualified from driving for two years and eight months having pleaded guilty to drink driving.

She was also given an 18-month community order and must carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.

PC Joe Woolf said: ‘Although it is over a twenty-year period, Campbell has been convicted of drink driving on three previous occasions, there is absolutely no excuse for drink driving.

‘She was considerably over the limit, and it was lucky she didn’t do herself or other road users any serious harm.’

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