'Extremely foolish decision' leads to year-long ban

A court has heard how a Craigavon man made “an extremely foolish decision” by driving his sister’s car whilst over the limit.

The case of Gary Quinn, (25), of Drumbeg, was heard at Craigavon Courthouse sitting on Wednesday, April 27.

The court heard that on February 18 this year, there was a report of a vehicle being taken without the owner’s permission.

The injured party stated that her brother had been in her house and when she returned, the defendant and her car keys were missing.

The vehicle was stopped and police identified Quinn and he was clearly intoxicated when he spoke with officers.

He failed a preliminary breath test at the scene and an evidential breath test read 79 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath – the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Further checks showed that he only held a provisional licence and when he was driving, he didn’t have any supervised driver, no L plates were on display nor any insurance.

In his defence, the court was told that Quinn realises there is a “certain inevitability” about proceedings and that he had actually had his driving test booked but this will not become a reality.

It was added that the defendant is a young man “who doesn’t have much experience with alcohol” but he will have to live with the consequences of his decision to get behind the wheel.

District Judge Bernie Kelly imposed a £150 fine for taking a motor vehicle without authority, a £300 fine and a 12 month disqualification until re-tested for driving with excess alcohol in breath, a £200 fine and a 12 month disqualification for no insurance, a £25 fine not displaying L plates and a £75 for not having any supervision.