Co Tyrone welder who drove through police checkpoint in Moy village was found to be over the limit
A young Co Tyrone motorist who drove through a police checkpoint without stopping, has lost his licence for 15 months
Ciaran McNally, aged 25, a welder / frabricator from Maplebrook Hill in Coalisland, was also fined £250 with a £15 offender’s levy for driving while having consumed excess alcohol in breath.
Dungannon Magistrates Court was told that on the night of March 8 last, police were conducting a checkpoint in the vicinity of The Square, Moy, when a car drove through without stopping.
Prosecuting counsel said there were a number of people in the area at the time and the vehicle later stopped.
She said McNally failed a preliminary breath test and was arrested and taken to Dungannon PSNI station, where he provided an evidential specimen showing an alcohol reading of 63 mcgs per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 mcgs.
A defence lawyer said the defendant had been at a friend’s house where he had a drink.
He said McNally fully accepted that he should not have been driving.
The lawyer said the defendant thought the police were dealing with a road traffic accident and he had driven slowly through the checkpoint.
He pointed out that one of the officers said in his report that the car had slowed down.
Pleading for leniency, the lawyer asked the court to keep the disqualification to the minimum to allow McNally to get back on the road.
District Judge Francis Rafferty said he would give the defendant credit for entering a plea at the earliest opportunity.