Drink-driver detected in Cookstown Asda car park handed suspended jail sentence
A motorist found by police to be under the influence of alcohol in the Asda carpark, Cookstown, after they received a report of a drink-driver, has been given a three-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, at Dungannon Magistrates Court.
Lazar Maius Paculescu, aged 30, from Loy Street in Cookstown, was also fined £250 with a £15 offender’s levy and disqualified from driving for three years when he admitted driving with excess alcohol on March 3 and March 8 this year.
The court heard that on March 3 this year, police on mobile patrol stopped the defendant in a car at Tulnagee Road, Cookstown, around 4pm and provided a breath specimen which showed an alcohol reading of 53 per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 mcgs.
Continuing, counsel prosecuting said on March 8 last, police received a report of a drink-driver at Asda carpark on Sweep Road, and later spoke to the defendant who provided an evidential specimen of 77 per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 mcgs.
A defence solicitor explained Paculescu, who appeared in court via video link from Maghaberry Prison, has spent a period of time in custody.
He pointed out that the defendant did not have a record and asked the court to give him credit for his early plea to the matters.
The solicitor added that Paculescu is currently in employment.
Passing sentence, District Judge Francis Rafferty remarked that there would need to be a three-year driving disqualification imposed.