Co Tyrone motorist who was just over three times the limit found sitting in car with a bottle of Buckfast and beer, court told
A young Co Tyrone motorist found sitting in the car with a bottle of Buckfast and beer to hand following a collision in Cookstown town centre, has lost his licence for 20 months.
Twenty-three-year-old Nathan Beattie, a car valeter, from Pomeroy Road, Dungannon, admitted charges of driving without due care and attention and driving while having consumed excess alcohol in breath.
A charge of having no insurance was withdrawn by the Public Prosecution Service.
Imposing fines totalling £400 with a £15 offender’s levy, District Judge Francis Rafferty said the defendant was just over three times the limit and clearly not fit to drive.
Dungannon Magistrates Court was told on Tuesday that on arrival at Oldtown Street, Cookstown, police found a car on the road with the defendant sitting inside.
Prosecuting counsel said it appeared to have collided with a stationary vehicle in a parking bay.
The lawyer said police noted the defendant had a bottle of Buckfast and beer to hand in the vehicle and his speech was slow and slurred.
He was arrested and taken to Dungannon custody suite, where he provided an evidential specimen showing an alcohol reading of 112 mcgs per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 mcgs.
The prosecutor said the defendant told police he had been drinking in Ma Quinn’s Bar and had no memory of the incident.
A defence lawyer said Beattie had no recollection because of the high alcohol reading.
He said the defendant worked as a car valeter in Cookstown and was not sure if he will be able to retain his job.