//A serious question NJ. If it had been me, with her driving record, admitting to drug / drink driving, then voluntarily going into rehab, would I have been given a substantial, but suspended sentence?//
I imagine you would have received near enough the same sentence, drmorgans. It's always difficult to comment on individual cases. What you see on the telly or read in the papers is only a tiny bit of the information a court will have when sentencing. The media necessarily pick out the bits they want you to know about but don't bore you too much with the details. As I said, the maximum sentence for her offences is four months (with her guilty plea) and she got near enough that. As I also pointed out, she would only have served 28 days, so it could be argued that in some respects the Suspended Sentence Order, together with the unpaid work and probation supervision (which will last some time) is more onerous. She also has the suspended sentence hanging over her which will almost certainly be activated should she transgress again during the suspension period.