Man who drove off in car after leaving a public house in Moy was more than three times the legal drink driving limit, Dungannon court hears
A motorist who was reported leaving a public house in Moy and driving off in a car, has lost his licence for 18 months.
Simon Graham Irwin, aged 35, from Lisnaclin Court in Dungannon, was also fined £350 and ordered to pay a £15 offender's levy for driving while having consumed excess alcohol in breath.
Dungannon Magistrates Court was told that on August 3 last year, at approximately 6.20pm, police received a report about a driver who had previously been in a bar in Moy.
Prosecuting counsel said police later located the car parked in a layby at Dungannon Road, Moy, and the driver, Irwin, provided a preliminary specimen which showed a fail.
He was arrested and conveyed to the custody suite, where he provided an evidential specimen showing a reading of 111 mcgs per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 mcgs.
Counsel added that police had a witness statement stating the defendant had been drinking in a bar in Moy prior to leaving and “driving around The Square and down the road”.
A defence lawyer said the defendant had been socialising on this particularly evening and had quite foolishly decided to drive.
He pleaded with the court to give Irwin as much credit as possible.
District Judge Francis Rafferty remarked that the defendant was going to contest the charge and it was a high reading.
He noted that Irwin had last been before the court in 2013.
Judge Rafferty allowed the defendant four months to pay the fines.