Jessica Beech gets 12-month ban after Westbury drink-drive case — Salisbury Journal

Jessica Beech was banned from driving for 12 months after salisbury journal reporting on her guilty plea at Salisbury Magistrates' Court. The 31-year-old from Jubilee Court, Salisbury, also received a £120 fine after admitting drink-driving with a child under seven in the car.

Magistrates heard that Beech drove along Eden Vale Road in Westbury on January 7 2026 with 51 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, above the legal limit of 35 micrograms. She was sentenced on April 24.

Beech's Westbury Drive

Beech pleaded guilty to driving while nearly one and a half times over the drink-drive limit and to being drunk in charge of a child under the age of seven years. No separate penalty was imposed for the child-related offence, leaving the driving ban and fine as the court's punishment.

The case turned on a single driving reading and the presence of a young child in the vehicle. The court treated the drink-drive offence and the child-related charge together at sentencing, rather than adding a second punishment for the child charge.

Salisbury Magistrates' Court Sentence

The 12-month disqualification can be reduced to nine months if Beech completes a drink-drive rehabilitation course by November 23 2026. That gives her one clear route to shorten the ban, but only by meeting the court's deadline.

The offence of being drunk in charge of a child under seven carries a fine of up to £200 or up to one month in prison under section 2 of the Licensing Act 1902. In this case, the magistrates used the driving ban and £120 fine already imposed at Salisbury Magistrates' Court.