Judge casts doubt on one pint claim

But after failing to get a taxi she decided to drive home and her driving attracted the attention of the police.

Charlotte Russell (47), whose address was given as Holly Hill, Dollingstown, was fined £150 last Friday at Craigavon Magistrates Court for driving with excess alcohol in breath on August 1 this year.

She was also banned from driving for 12 months and ordered to pay a £15 offender’s levy. If she completes a course for drink driving the ban would be reduced by three months.

The court heard that at 1.35am at Millennium Way police noticed a car fail to slow down at a give way 
sign.

They stopped the car and smelled alcohol when they spoke to the defendant. She failed a roadside breath test and when asked if she had been drinking she said one pint.

An evidential test gave a reading of 83 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath - the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

She had no previous convictions.

Mr Paddy Moriarty said she had gone to Waringstown to stay with her mother and got a call from a friend asking if she would like a drink.

He added that she drove to Lurgan with the intention of leaving the car there and getting a taxi home.

Mr Moriarty said she tried to get a taxi but could not get one and she foolishly 
decided to drive 
home.

District Judge, Mr Mervyn Bates, said that because of the reading he doubted the assertion of one pint was accurate.