College finance head tagged for drink drive crash

MANCHESTER College's head of finance crashed her car following a drunken row with her partner, a court heard.

Gillian Mangnall, 47, of Redwood, Westhoughton, Bolton, pleaded guilty at Manchester Magistrates' Court to one charge of driving with excess alcohol.

The court heard she was three times over the legal limit when she crashed her car into railings after an argument with her partner.

Mangnall was banned from driving for 24 months, ordered to wear an electronic tag and to stay in her home between 6am and 8pm for eight weeks.

Tess Kenyon, prosecuting, told magistrates that Mangnall was found by police behind the wheel of her damaged Vauxhall Astra shortly after midnight on January 14 on Cleggs Lane, Little Hulton with the engine still running.

She said that officers asked if Mangnall had been drinking, she said: "I am drunk, I've had eight gins."

The court heard she was breathalyzed and found to have had 101 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Magistrates were told by Carl Johnson, defending, said the incident was 'the culmination of difficult times' for Mangnall.

The week of the crash marked the first anniversary of her mother's death and her step father was seriously ill in Spain.

Mr Johnson said those problems put a strain on her relationship with her partner.

He said: "She has an issue with grief, and the death of her mother had hit her very hard. She accepts her behaviour was a result of these unresolved issues.

"She feels a huge amount of remorse and has no other convictions after 28 years driving."

The court heard that on the night of the crash, Mangnall had been at her partner's home and, after drinking eight glasses of gin, the two had a row.

She jumped into her car and drove home in what her solicitor described as a 'moment of poor judgement' .

She lost control and crashed into a set of steel railings near a roundabout.

Chair of Magistrates, Larry Collier, told Mangnall: "This is an embarrassing situation for you, especially as your college principal has given us some exemplary references of you.

"We accept you are remorseful but you are in an embarrassing situation considering you will have to wear a tag."

The court heard Mangnall was ashamed and worried about the prospect of having to tell her family about her conviction.

She was also ordered to pay £85 costs and enrolled on the Drink Driving Rehabilitation Course.

A spokeswoman for the Manchester College said Mangnall will not lose her job.

She said: "Gillian Mangnall is our Head of Finance. The Manchester College is aware of the outcome of this case.

"We consider this conviction to be a serious and personal matter, which will not impact her role with the College.

"She has our full support at this time."

By Todd Fitzgerald