Lisburn man caught drink driving as break in the Glens of Antrim ends badly
A Lisburn man was caught drink driving after a getaway to the Glens of Antrim ended badly, a court has heard.
Eoin Bigley (29), of Warren Park Avenue, had been to an Airbnb in the Glenariffe area on March 28 this year but following what Ballymena Magistrates' Court heard had been a "drunken argument", the defendant had then got behind the wheel of a vehicle.
Police were informed and they found him walking around the car at the Cushendall Road area. He had the keys.
He had an alcohol in breath reading of 61 - the legal limit is 35 - and he admitted a charge of driving with excess alcohol in breath.
A defence barrister said the defendant had been at a B&B but after he and his "girlfriend had fallen out" there had been a "verbal argument" and they had been "asked to leave".
Given the time of night and it being a "remote area", the defendant made the "foolish decision to drive and thankfully his girlfriend had the wit to tell him to pull over and wait for somebody to come and pick them up. He accepts he had been driving".
At Ballymena Magistrates' Court on Thursday, April 24, the defendant was banned from driving for 14 months and fined £350.
District Judge Natasha Fitzsimons said drink driving is "very serious" because people die on the roads every year as a result of motorists making a "very selfish decision" to get behind the wheel with alcohol taken.