Struck parked car and then drove on

When he took a chance to drive home after he had been drinking a 29-year-old man struck a parked car and drove on.
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Paul Moffett, Edenderry Gardens, Banbridge, was fined £200 and banned from driving for 18 months for an excess alcohol offence last Thursday at the local magistrates’ court.

He was also fined £200 for failing to stop and failing to report, with concurrent 18 month bans, and ordered to pay a £15 offender’s levy.

The court heard that on June 19 police received a report of a damage only road traffic accident in Banbridge and the vehicle involved did not stop.

When police called at Moffett’s address he admitted he had been driving. He was unsteady on his feet and there was a smell of intoxicating liquor on his breath.

An evidential breath test gave a reading of 153.

Moffett said he had been going to the shop to get more drink. When he got home he had gone straight to bed without taking any more drink.

A solicitor representing the defendant said Moffett accepted it was a serious incident and that he faced a lengthy ban.

He added that he had never been in this situation before and he panicked at the scene.

The solicitor explained that Moffett had been drinking with friends before returning home and he took a chance. He accepted he should not have been behind the wheel and this had been a salutary lesson to him.

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