'You should not have been cheeky to police,' Craigavon judge tells Lurgan teenager who refused to give a breath sample
“You should not have been cheeky to police,” a judge told a teenager who refused to give officers a preliminary breath sample.
The 18-year-old was warned by police after he was stopped in Lurgan and refused the breath test, however he told officers: “I don’t care.”
-
-
Kamran Aleen, from Windsor Avenue, Lurgan, appeared before Craigavon Magistrates Court, pleading guilty to no insurance, no L plates, being an unaccompanied L driver, failing to provide a specimen for a preliminary breath test and driving with excess alcohol.
The court heard it was 1.15am on April 12 this year when police received a report of a person suspected to be driving with excess alcohol.
Around 15 minutes later, police attended Kiln Road, Lurgan and spotted a VW Passat driven by the defendant with one other person in the car.
Aleen admitted to police at the scene that he held a provisional licence and wasn’t insured to drive.
Police smelled alcohol from the defendant who refused to supply a specimen for a preliminary breath test. When warned about this refusal, he told police: “I don’t care”.
Aleen was arrested and while in custody he agreed to an evidential breath test with a result of 49 micrograms of alcohol to 100 millilitres of blood. The legal drink drive limit is 35 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath.
Aleen’s solicitor, Ms Siun Downey, said the defendant is “extremely distressed” about these charges.
“He tells me it is totally out of character and he’s never had any cause to speak to police before.”
“He has asked me to apologise, not only to the court but also the police involved,” said Ms Downey.
District Judge Michael Ranaghan said: “Apologies at this stage carry no weight whatsoever. If he really wanted to apologise he could have gone to the police station at any time.”
District Judge Ranaghan told Aleen: “You should not have been cheeky to police.”
He banned Aleen from driving for 14 months for driving with excess charge while all the other offences were met with a concurrent six months driving ban. He was fined £60 for each offence plus £15 offender levy – a total of £315.