A BUSINESSWOMAN who refused to give a breath test after drinking cocktails and wine with friends has been banned from the roads.

Julie Cook-Hughes, 44, was pulled over while behind the wheel of her Land Rover in Poole Hill, Bournemouth late on November 24 last year.

The defendant, who has run an award-winning recruitment agency for 20 years, refused to provide a roadside breath test and was arrested and taken to the police station.

There, she displayed "bizarre behaviour", Poole Magistrates' Court heard on Monday.

The mum-of-three pleaded guilty to failing to provide a specimen for analysis when she appeared at the court.

Cook-Hughes, who was the 2015 Dorset Business Mother of the Year, was stopped by police after watching the England-Australia rugby match with friends.

The court heard that she had consumed two mojitos and a glass of wine, meaning it was likely she was over the drink-drive limit.

Jonathan Morrissey, mitigating, said his client had a drinking problem that stemmed from an abusive marriage and debts run up by her former husband.

A month before the offence, she had received a requisition from Her Majesty's Revenues and Customs to pay £1.4million, debts which he said were down to her ex.

He said: "Ms Cook-Hughes suffered years of domestic violence which left her with PTSD and she drank alcohol to cope with this.

"One month before the incident she received a letter on the doorstep which was a requisition from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs to pay £1.4million in connection with debts her former husband managed to build up without telling her.

"This was a source of great anxiety for her and contributed to her drinking.

"She had been out to watch rugby with friends that day and while we don't know what the reading would have been she later admitted to having drunk two mojitos and a glass of wine, so it is likely she would have been above the drink drive limit.

"Since the offence, she has rehauled her life and she is working extremely hard on being a mother to her three children and pulling her recruitment agency out of liquidation."

Cook-Hughes, of Blake Dene Road, was disqualified from driving for 18 months and fined £300, as well as being ordered to pay £85 costs and a £30 victim surcharge.

Magistrate Lady Helen Curran told her: "You have clearly been through a very difficult time and there is a substantial amount of personal mitigation so we are going outside our guidelines with our decision.

"But you will still be disqualified from driving for 18 months."