Jennifer Ann Sims sentenced to 9 months for driving drunk with kids

A Cole Harbour woman who drove with at least five times the legal limit of alcohol in her system and her two kids in the car has been sentenced by a Dartmouth provincial court judge to nine months in jail.

Jennifer Ann Sims was arrested in April 2014 after an officer saw a car stopped in the middle of Forest Hills Parkway in Cole Harbour. Sims pleaded guilty to impaired driving in May.

"It's hard to fathom a situation that is more serious, less a motor vehicle accident or serious bodily harm or death," Crown prosecutor Robert Kennedy told reporters after the sentencing.

"This is a case that's right on the precipice of reaching that level. And quite clearly the judge agreed that denunciation and deterrence is required here."

At the time of her arrest, Sims was driving with an eight-month-old baby and 13-year-old child in the car.

On Monday, provincial court Judge Daniel MacRury rejected Sims's request for a curative discharge, noting some of her breathalyzer readings were eight times the legal limit and she has previous drunk driving convictions.

"Every drunk driver is a potential killer," MacRury said. "The court cannot wait until Ms. Sims kills someone."

A curative discharge would have allowed the court to impose a shorter sentence than the legislated minimum, which the Crown says is four months.

Prior convictions

It is the fourth time in five years that Sims has been charged with impaired driving-related offences.

She was convicted of impaired driving in March 2009 after a traffic stop in Westphal, outside Dartmouth.

In September 2012, she pleaded guilty to two charges: having a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit of .08 in connection with an incident in September 2010, and refusing a breathalyzer in May 2011.

MacRury said there are mitigating factors in this latest case including an early guilty plea, Sims's current abstinence from alcohol and positive response to treatment.

He told Sims the next time she comes to court for impaired driving, she'll get federal time of more than two years in prison.

The Crown had requested a one-year jail sentence.

At a previous appearance, the court heard Sims is receiving counselling for alcohol addiction.

Patricia Mugridge, an addictions social worker, said Sims has stayed sober since the April 2014 incident and she's less likely to relapse again.

The CBC's Blair Rhodes live blogged from court.