Moneymore motorist was more than three-and-a-half times the legal drink driving limit
A South Derry motorist who was three-and-a-half times over the legal alcohol limit has been given a two-month jail sentence suspended for 18 months at Magherafelt Magistrates Court.
Damien Devlin, aged 36, from Drumrot Road, Moneymore, was also disqualified from driving for 21 months for driving with excess alcohol in breath on November 9 last year.
Prosecuting cousel told the court that police were on mobile patrol in the Tobermore area when they observed a vehicle being driven erratically through the village.
The lawyer said police followed the vehicle which crossed the central white line several times before turning left into Knocknagin Road, Desertmartin, where it was stopped.
Counsel said on speaking to the defendant, officers noticed a smell of intoxicating liquor and he failed a roadside test.
Deviln was conveyed to the custody suite where he provided an evidential specimen showing an alcohol reading of 128 mcgs per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 mcgs.
A defence lawyer said the defendant had unfortunately been going through “a traumatic period in his life” at this time.
He explained that he had allowed the “alcohol to get the better of him” and as result he had lost his job of 22 years.
The lawyer pointed out that Devlin cooperated fully with the police and has accepted that alcohol is a problem and was addressing it.
He pleaded with the court to make the sentence as lenient as possible as the defendant wanted to find new employment.
District Judge Conor Heaney remarked that the high reading was a matter of concern and the court was mindful to impose a custodial sentence.