Firefighter haunted by 999 tragedies in 'very difficult week' caught after she bought cider 'to decompress'

A firefighter who was caught behind the wheel over the drink drive limit claimed she was haunted by a series of 999 tragedies she had to deal with during her shifts.

Janine Culley escaped with a £338 fine after arguing that she had been seeking 'me time' following a series of harrowing call outs.

The 46-year-old, a Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service firefighter based at Altrincham fire station, tested almost three times the legal drink drive limit after police stopped her Dacia Sander when she suddenly reversed out of a parking bay in a National Trust car park as they pulled up next to her.

READ MORE: Inquest hears more details about tragedy that saw man, 29, die in Dovestone Reservoir

Culley claimed she had been drinking cider to cope after responding to a series of harrowing incidents over a four-day period. They included a woman killed after throwing herself under a train and a man believed to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

She had previously dealt with the aftermath of two schoolboys killed in a bus crash, Wirral Magistrates Court was told. The single mum-of-one was previously banned from the roads for 12 months after being convicted of drink driving back in 2010.

Empty cider bottles seen in car

On the evening of May 24 this year, the court heard that police came across Culley's vehicle reversing out of a car park a mile from her home in Greasby on the Wirral, Merseyside. When they spoke to her, she was said to be smelling strongly of alcohol and slurring her words. Three empty bottles of Westons Vintage cider were seen on the passenger seat.

Elizabeth Browne, prosecuting, said: “It was suspected the defendant was under the influence of alcohol so a roadside specimen of breath was requested which resulted in a failure. She was arrested and taken to Wirral custody suite.''

Tests showed Culley had 96 micrograms of alcohol in 100millilitres of breath, almost three times the legal limit of 35mg. The court was shown police body-worn footage in which Culley was heard disclosing details of her job and adding: ''There was a lady who jumped in front of a train...

"I'm just tired as I do not think I've slept more than three hours a night since the incident. I am literally only two minutes away from my house.''

One officer told her: “You are going through a s*** time so we will try and get you some support. But you cannot drive if you are intoxicated."

The court heard Culley had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of some of the things she had seen on duty. She told the hearing: “On March 20, I reported to work as usual and at roughly about 10am we were called to a smell of gas. As we got there, there was a very upset family and a deceased 52-year-old male in the property. The family believed he died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

“About half an hour after leaving the deceased male, we were called to a deceased female who had jumped in front of a freight train. On March 24, I was assisting with gaining entry to a domestic violence case, a male who threatened to hurt himself. There were punch marks all over the property, alcohol and smashed bottles and a male was almost naked in bed drunk, completely drunk.

“I was a victim of domestic violence for five years. It just took me straight back because it was resembling how my house always looked with my former partner.

"There were previously incidents involving dead children and 14-year-old boys hit by a bus. By the end of my shift on March 24, I was feeling completely overwhelmed.

“I stopped off at the service station and bought six bottles of cider and drove to a National Trust car park about two minutes from my sister's house to drink some of them. I really knew that I was not doing too well.

''I had not really been sleeping pretty much from the incident as all that I had been able to see in my mind was the lady’s dismembered head next to the track. Even driving home, it was almost right in front of me. I wanted to block it out - just for a bit."

She added: ''I am the one my family go to when they are struggling. They have never seen me fall apart before and that's not the way I want them to see me.

"My intention was to leave the car, that is why I did not park the car or drink on the road. I was literally only two minutes walk from my sister's. I was planning on going after 10 o'clock when I knew my sister's sons would be asleep."

'I am sorry for everything I have done'

Culley said she was on her own in the dark and initially did not realise the vehicle approaching was a police car. She then ''panicked' and began reversing out of the bay.

She told the JPs: ''I can promise you, you will never see me again and I am so sorry to everybody today for taking everybody's time. I am sorry for everything I have done.

"I can only promise to make sure that I am the best mum to my daughter and that she never finds herself in this position and that she will always have someone to talk to.”

Culley's lawyer, John Gallagher, told the court: ''She has been a firefighter for the best part of 23 years and as you can imagine has attended quite a wide range of very traumatic incidents. She is divorced and a single mother of a 17-year-old child. It would have been very hard to bring up the child in a fairly high-pressure work environment for a significant period of time.

“Over that week and the preceding two days, there was a mix of incidents which were clearly traumatic as far as what had happened in her work environment. The particular trigger was about the domestic violence incident on that day of the offence.

“You can imagine that the fire service has a zero-tolerance approach to drug and alcohol use. But there was never any suggestion that Ms Culley had taken alcohol prior to be being at the car park.

"She left work, had gone to a petrol station where she bought some cider, parked up and started to drink some cider, effectively to self-medicate, to decompress, however you wish to put it. She wanted some ‘Me time’. “

Culley, a former recipient of the Fire Service Sports and Athletics Association Sports Personality of the Year, admitted drink driving and was also sentenced to a 12-month community order, with a requirement that she participates with 25 days of rehabilitation activity and pay £364 in costs and victim surcharge.

She was banned from driving for the minimum 23 months due to the high reading - but JPs agreed to offer her the drink drive awareness course to reduce the ban by six months. She now faces disciplinary action from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.

In sentencing, JP Rosaleen Egan told Culley: “We recognise that you had a very difficult week, far far worse than the sort of difficulties which any of the rest of us can imagine. However, alcohol, as you now recognise, is not the way to deal with it.

“We are very pleased to recognise that you are now accepting support to deal with the trauma that you have had to deal with. We do recognise that you are very highly thought of with all of the emotions and the incidents that you have dealt with over the years. We wish you the best of luck with your recovery and the support that you are getting.”