Drove to buy gin

A WOMAN who was reported for drink driving by an off-licence employee has been disqualified from driving for 16 months.

Donna Burns (48) of Jillian Heights, Laurelvale, admitted the offence at Thursday's sitting of Craigavon Magistrates Court.

The court was told police had received a report of a person driving while intoxicated from an employee of an off-licence at 11.50am on March 29. Police checked the vehicle details and called with the owner (the defendant) at 12.05pm.

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She denied she had been to the shops and said she had not had a drink in the last 20 minutes. She failed a preliminary breath test.

An evidential sample showed 89 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 mililitres of breath (the legal limit is 35).

Her solicitor told the court Burns had been driving for 22 years.

He said she works part-time and during the period in question was having personal problems. She has since been to a doctor to address them.

He said she had co-operated fully with police.

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The solicitor said she had gone to the garage earlier to get a bottle of gin and later for more.

District Judge Alan White remarked: "It's a very high reading."

The defending solicitor responded: "The reading may have been distorted because she had a drink in the house."

Mr White disqualified Burns from driving for 16 months and certified her as suitable for the drink drivers course (on completion she will be eligible for a reduction in the period of disqualification). He also fined her 300.

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BURNS DONNA (20 Feb 1962), 4 JILLIAN HEIGHTS, LAURELVALE TANDRAGEE CRAIGAVON, COUNTY ARMAGH, BT62 2NW

Charges: Driving with Excess Alcohol in Breath

Charges

(1) Defendant on 29th day of March 2010, in the County Court Division of CRAIGAVON, drove a motor vehicle on a road, namely Dobbin Road after consuming so much alcohol that the proportion of it in your breath exceeded the prescribed limitcontrary to Article 16(1)(a) of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1995

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