A CAMPAIGNER who took on the city council over plans to shut a respite centre has been caught drink-driving.

Kentish Road campaigner Lisa Stead, 48, was three times the drink-drive limit when she was arrested near her Southampton home in July.

She also committed common assault, by causing fear of injury, when her car moved after a pedestrian had jumped on the bonnet of the vehicle to stop her from driving.

When breathalysed by police, Stead had 107 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

The legal limit is 35 microgrammes of alcohol.

Stead, of Earls Road, Southampton, pleaded guilty to drink-driving and common assault during a hearing at Southampton Magistrates’ Court last week.

Daily Echo:

Her case was adjourned until November 29 for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

Speaking to the Echo, Stead said she was “mortified” by the incident, which she said took place after returning home, via taxi, from a dinner event.

Stead said she was attempting to reposition her car in a disabled bay when she clipped another car, sparking a nearby pedestrian to intervene.

She described the decision to get behind the wheel as “irrational” and that she was “under pressure” following news that her respite care fees were set to rise.

Stead was a key figure in a three year campaign to save Kentish Road Respite Centre after Southampton City Council announced plans to close the facility.

Alongside friend and fellow service user Amanda Guest, she sparked a 2,000-name petition before leading a protest march through the streets of Southampton.

Daily Echo:

Despite the campaign, the Labour-run council, under former leader Simon Letts, voted to close the centre in 2017.

But current council leader Christopher Hammond, who took over from Mr Letts after he lost his Bitterne seat in 2018, reversed the decision eight months later.

A report by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) later found the council had failed in the way it dealt with the closure of the centre and this had led to some users experiencing “avoidable uncertainty and distress”.

The council later agreed to pay out more than £40,000 in compensation to carers for its handling of the closure.

During her time campaigning, Stead also ran as an independent councillor for Bitterne against Mr Letts and was set to be selected as a Conservative councillor for Swaythling the day after she was arrested.

She immediately resigned after her arrest.