Zara Ferns, 26, was spotted veering across the central white line of the road in Runcorn by a police officer before she led the cop on a chase which ended with her crashing into a concrete sign
A new mum who ignored a drug driving ban and smashed her SUV during a police chase had been on a cocaine binge just weeks after being discharged from an NHS mother and baby unit.
Zara Ferns, 26, had been allowed home from hospital with her newborn son following a severe period of postnatal problems, but later left the baby with his grandmother while she snorted cocaine at a friend’s house. She was arrested in the early hours after a police chase in which Ferns drove at twice the speed limit in her automatic Omoda 5, repeatedly veering over the central white line before smashing into a concrete sign.
Officers who tested her for drugs noticed a tell-tale white powder around her nose – but she failed to give a sample for analysis.
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“I have no idea why I took it, No idea why I got into the vehicle and no idea why I drove,” Ferns later said when quizzed over the incident. Investigations revealed she had been driving whilst banned after being handed a 12 month disqualification for drug driving in February last year.
At Warrington Magistrates Court, Ferns, from Runcorn in Cheshire, faced up to two years in prison after she admitted to dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified, failing to stop when required by a constable, failing to provide a specimen for analysis and driving without insurance. But she was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months after a judge accepted pleas that she needed to be at home to look after her son, now four months old.
Social services are said to be “content” that the child is being looked after properly. The court heard Ferns had been confined to the mother and baby unit after a bout of “postnatal psychosis” but she was discharged last November with medication. The trouble started in January this year when she was taken off the medication due to health complications and went to visit a friend who gave her cocaine.
Miss Chelsea Keans, prosecuting, told the court: “In the early hours of Sunday January 25, PC Holland, in fully uniformed patrol in a fully marked police vehicle, observed a silver Omoda 5 veer over the central line three times on Boston Avenue, Runcorn. He subsequently activated the emergency lights equipment and siren to cause the vehicle to stop.
“The vehicle did initially stop before accelerating away at speed when the officers exited the vehicle. There was a 45 second pursuit when she travelled at more than twice the posted speed limit before colliding with a concrete sign before eventually coming to a stop. The driver was the occupant and police noted she had been disqualified from driving until February 2026 following a previous conviction for drug driving.
“A roadside drug test indicated positive for cocaine and officer noted that she had white powder around her nose at the time when she was arrested and taken to Runcorn custody suite. Initially she did provide consent to blood being taken, however, she later rescinded this consent.
“This is [a] matter whereby there was a deliberate decision to ignore the rules of the road, a risk of danger to other road users, given the speed and the fact there was a collision. The offence came about whilst evading justice and there was damage to property. She has a previous conviction on her record for drug driving.”
In mitigation, Fern’s solicitor Brian O’Connor said: “This young lady has faced a number of difficulties in recent years and this gives some kind of explanation for what her behaviour was like on that day. When she was released from the mother and baby unit she was placed on medication but she was taken off that medication a couple of days before this incident because of dangerously high liver function results.
“She had gone around to a friend’s address and been given some cocaine. At the time her head was all over the place. She needs the help of the mental health team and allow her to be supported by her family.”
Ferns was also banned from driving for three years and made to pay £272 in costs and surchage. She was told she will need to pass an extended retest before she gets her licence back and will have to attend 15 days of rehabilitation activity.
In sentencing, District Judge Ian Barnes told her: “You have got the full house as far as driving offences are concerned in the course of evading the police. No doubt you knew you were disqualified and you should not have been on the road. Clearly given the indication at the road side, there was cocaine in your system and I suspect all of that factored into your decision making.
“But I also balance against that your relatively young age, your mental health and the fact your medication was stopped through no fault of your own only days before this incident. I think that played at least some part in your decision making and actions on that day. You clearly have significant responsibilities for the young child – and they would be badly impacted if you were sent to custody.”
