Actress Rula Lenska has been banned from driving after she flipped her car with her three-year-old grandson in the back seat after downing a shot of vodka with Polish builders, a court has heard.
Wimbledon Magistrates' Court heard Lenska, 68, was marginally over the limit as she hit a parked car in her Kia at around 7pm on 22 February.
The impact caused her car to mount the kerb and roll onto its side in the middle of Hospital Bridge Road in Twickenham, southwest London. Onlookers helped to pull the former EastEnders star and her toddler grandson out through the boot.
The court heard she had been filled with 'remorse and regret on a daily basis' since the incident.
Actress Rula Lenska (pictured arriving at court) has been banned from driving after she flipped her car with her three-year-old grandson in the back seat after downing a shot of vodka with Polish builders
Police were called and 30 minutes after the accident and a breathalyser found she had 47 mgs alcohol in 100 ml of breath. The legal limit is 35 mgs.
The court was told that Lenska had downed a large vodka at lunchtime as she toasted the completion of her fence with Polish builders at her home in Chiswick.
Lenska was breathalysed after witnesses smelled alcohol on her breath at the scene and complained to police.
She was arrested and taken to Kingston Police Station on suspicion of drink-driving and being drunk in charge of a child.
Seema Parikh, defending Lenska, told Withe court the incident has 'haunted her every day since'.
She said the actress had been riddled with guilt since the incident which saw her endanger the life of her 'darling grandson'.
Ms Parikh explained the actress had been too 'traumatised' by the event to answer questions in police interview, but had given a prepared statement.
Describing the events that led to the crash, Ms Parikh said it was normal for Lenska to spend 'cherished' time with her grandson on a Monday.
Her Kia clipped a parked car and rolled onto its side as she drove the toddler through Twickenham, west London, in February
Police were called and 30 minutes after the accident and a breathalyser found she had 47 mgs alcohol in 100 ml of breath. The legal limit is 35 mgs
She added: 'Earlier in the afternoon she has toasted the completion of her garden fence with her Polish builders and they had a vodka to drink.'
The bench heard that Lenska felt 'quite normal' later in the evening when her daughter asked her to drop the toddler home.
Ms Parikh said: 'Her cat had been attacked. She had to take the cat to the vets and asked my client whether she would be able to drop him back to her home address that day.'
Saying that Lenska felt 'absolutely fine' by the evening, she continued: 'She would not have risked her own grandson's life in this kind of situation.
'She is now thinking about this on a daily basis and it is just remorse and regret.'
Accident: Actress Rula Lenska, pictured left last year and right with ex-husband Dennis Waterman, has been charged with drink driving after reportedly flipping her car with her three-year-old grandson in the back seat
TV star: The 68-year-old as Krystal with EastEnders co-star Mike Reid as Frank Butcher
Chair of the bench Bukky Okunade said the offence had been aggravated by the fact that Lenska's grandson had been in the car and that she had collided with another vehicle.
The actress, of Chiswick, south west London, was disqualified from driving for 16 months, fined £410, and ordered to pay a surcharge of £41 as well as £85 in costs.
A statement released on behalf of Lenska said: 'The incident of 22 February will always be engraved in her mind and she cannot express enough her remorse for what happened.
'She is thankful that no one was injured and would like to thank her friends, family and legal team for their committed support during this very difficult period.
'She looks forward to resuming her professional commitments and putting this matter behind her.'
The former wife of actor Dennis Waterman has played Claudia Colby in Coronation Street in recent years and also appeared on Celebrity Big Brother.
Miss Lenska, born Countess Roza Lubienska, is descended from Polish aristocracy. Her parents fled to England in 1946.
In 2006 she featured in Celebrity Big Brother where she infamously pretended to feed milk from her hands to politician George Galloway while he lapped and purred like a cat.
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