‘Highly qualified’ doctor drank bottle of vodka before crashing into cars parked outside school
A highly qualified doctor has been suspended after admitting he ‘could have killed someone’ when he downed a bottle of vodka before getting behind the wheel and crashing into several cars outside a school.
Dr Kate Eve confirmed she drank 250ml of alcohol before leaving for the ‘short distance’ to school; he had undertaken this journey ‘many times’ before.
He was arrested after crashing his car and was found to be driving four times over the legal limit.
The woman, who was given a suspended prison sentence, was suspended from working for six months in order to ‘protect the public’s trust’.
Dr Eve graduated from the University of Leeds in 2003 and became a qualified GP in 2010. He completed his substance abuse qualification in 2017 after starting at York Street Health Practice in Leeds two years ago.
Dr Eve also provided healthcare to the homeless, vulnerable or seeking shelter.
In July 2024, he was convicted of operating a motor vehicle in a public place with excessive consumption of alcohol.
He was arrested and charged for crashing into parked cars at a school while dropping off a boy known only as Child J.
Dr (pictured) from York Street Health Practice in Leeds. Kate Eve was suspended after admitting she ‘could have killed someone’ when she downed a bottle of vodka before getting behind the wheel and crashing into several cars outside the school.
His breath was found to contain 151 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres, more than four times the 35 microgram limit.
The boy admitted drinking most of the 250ml bottle of vodka before asking to get in the car.
Dr Eve said she thought it would be fine as it was a short trip she had done a few times before.
He was given an eight-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months for the incident in July 2024.
Dr Eve was also required to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and was banned from driving for three years.
At the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing he accepted full responsibility for his actions and said every time he walked past the school he thought about the possibility that he had killed someone.
He said ‘apology is not a big enough word’.
The court decided to suspend him from work for six months.
At a hearing at the General Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester (pictured), he was ordered suspended from work for six months
Julia Oakford, chair of the MPTS hearing, said: ‘The court finds that Dr. He considered Eve’s evidence that she knew she was under the influence of alcohol when she decided to drive the motor vehicle but was unable to provide information about this. [Child J] He said he was drunk.
‘His evidence was that he justified his decision to himself when it was only a short distance to the school, that he had made the journey many times and that he would be fine.
‘The court considered that Dr Eve had taken a calculated risk. Dr Eve’s actions had the potential to harm her. [Child J] and the wider public.
‘In his own statement he stated that he may have killed someone because of his actions.
‘The court, Dr. He was satisfied that Eve had demonstrated sufficient understanding of the concerns arising from the conduct which led to her conviction.
‘In its decision on impairment, the court was aware that Dr Eve’s actions were assessed as posing a medium risk to the protection of the public.
‘The court is of the opinion that the seriousness of his conviction and the resulting risk cannot be offset by a period of conditional registration.
‘The court considers that an urgent decision in this case is necessary to appropriately protect, promote and maintain the health, safety and welfare of the public.’
