Woman subject to nationwide drink banning order appears back in court

A Bromsgrove woman who last month became the first person in the country to be issued with a drink banning order (DBO) banning her from licensed premises across England and Wales has already appeared back in court after breaching the order, it has been reported.

The Birmingham Post said Laura Hall had pleaded guilty at Redditch Magistrates’ Court to breaching the DBO and admitted being drunk and disorderly in a public place.

Hall was arrested by officers on Sunday morning when police saw her in Bromsgrove town centre with a can of lager.

Her defence counsel, Katie Oliver, said she had been drinking at a friend’s house and admitted having the can of lager in her possession, but denied drinking from it.

Hall was fined £100, and ordered to pay court costs of £85 and a £15 victim surcharge.

The DBO, issued by magistrates in Kidderminster in April, had banned Hall for two years from consuming alcohol or purchasing alcohol in pubs, nightclubs, membership clubs or hotels, and from purchasing alcohol in shops and off licences.

The order, which remains in place, also:

• banned Hall from having alcohol in any unsealed container or consuming alcohol in any public place, and
• required her to undertake an approved course to tackle her alcohol-misuse issue.