Drunk in charge of a motability scooter

Appearing at North Antrim Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday was Robert Alphonsus Dwyer of Maple Drive in the town.

The court heard that on October 14 last year, police in Coleraine received a report of an intoxicated man preparing to leave a pub in the town and travel on his motability scooter.

They received a further report about the man and later managed to detect him at The Crescent with an empty one litre vodka bottle in the basket of his scooter.

The 60-year-old defendant was said to smell heavily of alcohol and was slurring his words. On his way to the police station, he was said to have made an unsolicited admission: “I know I’m drunk. I admit that.”

Representing himself in court, Dwyer said that he was guilty of the charge and had been going “through a bad period”. However, he also added that he had been “off the drink since the day I was caught”.

District Judge Richard Wilson said it was a “silly incident” and explained that the defendant would not be allowed to use his motability scooter during the period of disqualification he was about to hand down.

He fined Dwyer £200 for driving with excess alcohol and banned him from driving for 12 months.