Lisburn mechanic caught for drink driving after anonymous tip-off to the PSNI
A Lisburn man has been disqualified from driving for a year after being found to be in charge of a vehicle whilst under the influence of alcohol.
Les Cullen, 40, whose address was given as Altona Drive in Lisburn, appeared before Lisburn Magistrates Court charged with being in charge with excess alcohol.
The court heard that on Thursday, September 11, 2025 at 8.30pm, police received an anonymous report from a member of the public that a male had been driving a BMW in the Brokerstown Road area and it was believed he had been drinking.
The police located the vehicle on the Moss Road in Lisburn outside a Chinese takeaway.
Officers spoke with the defendant, who was said to have unlocked the vehicle as he walked towards it.
The defendant told officers he was a mechanic and had been carrying out work on the vehicle.
After failing a roadside breath test, the defendant was conveyed to custody, where a second breath test gave an evidential reading of 57 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, the legal limit being 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.
A defence lawyer told the court the defendant had been driving since he was 17 and “had never had so much as a speeding ticket.”
He continued: “He has never been in a court before.
"I don’t think you will ever see this man again,” he told the court.
District Judge Rosie Watters disqualified the defendant from driving for 12 months.
She also imposed a fine of £250 and an offender’s levy of £15.