Boy, 11, reports mother for driving him around under the influence

A woman has been arrested in Girona province after her 11-year-old son reported her for driving him and his 10-year-old sibling around while drunk.

The boy pretended he needed a bathroom break to force his mother to stop at a gas station. While inside, he took advantage to ask one of the workers to call the police because his mother was drinking and was in no condition to drive.

The woman had that morning picked her children up from the juvenile facility where they live under state care to spend the day with them

The woman had that morning picked her children up from a juvenile facility – where they live under the care of the regional government – to spend the day with them. The 46-year-old has around 30 prior convictions for theft and acts of violence against both her children and teachers at the Educational Action Residential Center (CRAE) in Girona.

At around 7.30pm on Saturday, when they were driving along the C-35 highway in Vidreres, in La Selva district, the eldest child realized that his mother was in no fit state to be driving and asked her to stop at a gas station. A few minutes later members of the Mossos d’Esquadra regional police and citizen security personnel arrived on the scene along with an ambulance. The mother was very agitated and insulted both her children and the police officers on the scene. In light of her condition, the police asked her to take a breathalyzer and drug test, which she refused.

The woman was subsequently arrested and her children were sent back to the juvenile facility.

The Directorate General for Children and Adolescent Services (DGAIA) has said it will issue a report on the events once it has completed its talks with the children, family members and the police officers involved in the arrest. The Childhood and Adolescence Attention Team (EAIA) has also said it will revise the mother’s visitation rights to her children.

English version by Anne-Gaelle Sy.