Portadown man (20), spotted trying to start motorbike at 2am, was over the drink driving limit, Craigavon court hears
A 20-year-old man was over the drink driving limit when he was spotted trying to start his motorbike at 2am one Sunday morning, a court hears.
Micah Harvey, aged 20, from Bocombra Meadows, Portadown, appeared before Craigavon Magistrates Court on Wednesday facing a charge of being in charge of a vehicle with excess alcohol and having no insurance.
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The court heard police were tasked to Bocombra Meadows on Sunday May 25 this year at 2.05am following a request for assistance with “an intoxicated male attempting to drive his motorbike”.
When police arrived they saw a motorbike on the road with a helmet beside it. A witness told police he had been wakened from his sleep by what sounded like a disturbance on the street. He looked out the bedroom window and saw the defendant attempting to start the engine of the motorcycle.
An evidential reading of the defendant was 81 micrograms of alcohol to 100 millilitres of breath. The legal alcohol limit for driving in NI is 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.
In relation to the second charge the court heard police were on patrol in Portadown on November 1, 2024 when they saw a Honda Civic travelling on the Seagoe Road. Checks showed the vehicle wasn’t insured. It was revealed the policy had been cancelled on September 14, 2024.
Harvey’s solicitor Mr Richard Monteith, speaking about the first offence, revealed his client had been "out drinking” and there had been an “internal dispute within the house”. Mr Monteith said his client made verbal admissions to attempting to start the motorcycle.
In relation to the other offence, Mr Monteith said his client had been insured but there had been problems in his bank account and he hadn’t realised a payment hadn’t gone through.
Mr Monteith said Harvey had done well at school and was a "keen and active young footballer”, however he got Covid in 2022 and it “really knocked him for six and he lost motivation”. He is a keen mechanic and trying to get into a new course.
"Hopefully this will be a blip in his youth and he won’t be back before the court,” said the solicitor.
Harvey was banned from driving for six weeks and fined £75 on each of the two offences plus £15 Offender Levy.