My Wake-up Moment

In December 2008, Teresa Crowley failed to attend court to face a charge of criminal damage, committed in May that year. In her absence she was found guilty of criminal damage to a car, which she damaged when inebriated. She said that her reason for not attending court was that she feared she would lose the opportunity to take part in an alcohol treatment programme in Nottingham, which she believed would turn her life around.

 
Once the treatment was over she turned herself in to the police, declaring herself to be recovering from her alcoholism. She believes that the treatment has worked and she is on the route to recovery. To pay back the wonderful benefits that she is experienceing from the course of treatment, she has been hard at work helping others with drink problems in her home town of Eastbourne. ‘ I want to put something back into the commnity after all those years of being a drain on it’ she said.

 
When this was put to the presiding magistrate he congratulated her on making such wonderful progress, and on her work with others with similar problems. He responded to her solicitor’s report on her progress by giving her a 12 month conditional discharge. Of course she will pay expenses to the owner of the damaged car.

 
Let’s hope she can keep up the progress. It is never easy dealing with alcoholism in a society where drink is so often seen as an accompaniment to so many social events.

Dianna Moylan (assistant editor)

Tags: alcoholism, paying it back