Maghera delivery driver spotted swerving about on the road had drank alcohol the night before
A delivery driver whose vehicle was reported to police swerving from side to side on the road, has lost his licence for a year.
Joseph McCloskey, aged 28, from Ranaghan Road, Maghera, was also fined £400 with a £15 offender's levy for driving while having consumed excess alcohol in breath.
He was fined a further £200 for driving without due care and attention.
Dungannon Magistrates Court heard that on August 17 last year, police received a report at approximately 8.06am of a suspected drink-driver on the Cookstown Road, Dungannon.
Prosecuting counsel said the reporting person claimed McCloskey had pulled out in from of him at Coalpit Road and continued towards Cookstown, swerving about on the road.
The lawyer said the reporting person followed the defendant and recorded the standard of driving on his dashcam.
He said that McCloskey was stopped at Chapel Strteet in Cookstown and a breath specimen showed an alcohol reading of 58 mcgs per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 mcgs.
The prosecutor said the defendant told police that he had a drink the night before.
A defence lawyer described it as a “morning after case”.
He explained that a dangerous driving charge had been reduced to driving without due care and attention after a contest.
Sentencing McCloskey, Deputy District Judge Brian Archer remarked that defendant had “a very poor record”.
Mr Archer told him that he should not have been on the road especially after consuming alcohol.
He allowed him 26 weeks to pay the fines.