A woman who drank two bottles of wine, picked her daughter up from dance lessons, and then smashed into another car has been given a chance to prove she can turn her life around.
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Julieanne Nachouki, 32, faced the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday morning after she crashed into another car while four times the legal limit in Aranda in March last year.
The crash had a "devastating" impact on the victim, who was left with life-changing injuries.
The court heard Nachouki had driven her young daughter to dance lessons and stopped to buy two bottles of wine on the way.
She drank both bottles while she waited for her daughter to finish, and then started to drive home with the young girl in the front passenger seat.
But near Bandjalong Crescent she crashed into another car, causing significant injuries to the sole occupant.
After the crash, Nachouki's daughter was heard to say "Mummy was drinking. I hate it when she does this".
Supreme Court Justice John Burns deferred sentencing Nachouki for six months, to allow her to demonstrate progress in rehabilitation.
The court heard she had made significant steps in battling her alcohol addiction, voluntarily spending seven months in rehabilitation services.
She has separated from her husband, who she said was a destructive influence and made her depressed, leading her to drink.
Justice Burns told Nachouki she had a "profound" choice to either keep her alcohol addiction, or keep the rest of her life and her daughter.
He warned her if she failed rehabilitation she could expect a three-year jail term.
But if she showed she had overcome her addiction, she would be likely to be shown leniency and given periodic detention and a suspended sentence.
Nachouki was disqualified from driving for four years.
She will be sentenced over the culpable driving charges in September.