Co Derry motorist involved in collision on outskirts of Tobermore was more than twice the legal drink driving limit
The driver of a van who collided with the driver’s side of a car on the outskirts of Tobermore has been handed a two-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, at Magherafelt Magistrates Court for dangerous driving.
Daryl McCloskey, aged 29, from Garvagh Road, Dungiven, was fined £250 for driving while having consumed excess alcohol in breath and banned from driving for 12 months.
McCloskey was also fined £150 with a £15 offender’s levy for failing to provide a specimen when required by police.
The court heard that on September 28 last year at 1.30 am, police received a report of a two-vehicle collision on the Draperstown Road, Tobermore.
Prosecuting counsel said on arrival officers spoke to the driver of the van, McCloskey who was unsteady on his feet, his eyes were glazed and he was smelling of intoxicating liquor.
The lawyer said McCloskey refused to provide a breath test and was arrested and taken to Antrim Hospital where he refused treatment.
He said an evidential specimen obtained showed an alcohol reading of 73 mcgs per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 mcgs.
Counsel added that the other driver told police that on a left hand bend on the road the defendant’s van had swung across on to their side of the road and collided with the driver’s side.
A defence solicitor said it was “a bad piece of driving”.
He explained that McCloskey had a few pints earlier and thought he was “okay” to drive.
The lawyer said the defendant, who worked in the construction industry in England, had borrowed a friend’s vehicle on his night.