Enniskillen Court House
A 47-year-old man has been hit with a suspended prison sentence after he was caught driving four times over the legal limit.
It was claimed that Brian McQuaide was so drunk he could not stand up straight.
The court was told that police were alerted to the defendant’s state on October 6 after they received a phone call from a member of the public who saw an intoxicated driver outside a Spar shop on the Sligo Road in Enniskillen.
A description of the car and the number plate were given to the officers who went in search of the vehicle and spotted it parked outside a property in Enniskillen.
They called to the house and asked to speak to the owner of the car.
The defendant, with an address in Ballinamuck in Longford, told the officers that he owned the vehicle and, after he was made aware of the reported incident, he admitted to the officers that he had been at the shop with his sister.
He was asked to provide a breath sample which gave an alcohol reading of 55mg, 20mg over the legal limit.
He was subsequently arrested on suspicion of drink driving and taken to Enniskillen Police Station where he admitted to the officers that he had been drinking.
A evidential breath test was taken at the station which gave a reading of 136mg, over four times the legal limit.
When the accused was charged with the offence, he admitted his guilt, the court was told.
His solicitor, Niall Bogue told the court that his client had been visiting his sister who lives in Enniskillen. The pair had been shopping when they stopped at a pub. After McQuaide spent some time drinking they left.
Hs client’s instructions were that he did not want to leave his car at the pub and decided to drive the half a mile journey to his sister’s house.
Mr Bogue said: “It was a poor decision on his part. He fully admitted to what he did.”
District Judge Nigel Broderick said that it was a very high alcohol reading and that it was a miracle there wasn’t an accident.
He added: “It’s very fortunate, to say the least, that you did not encounter any other vehicle or pedestrian as there could have been a fatality and you would have faced a prison sentence.”
McQuaide was sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for two years, and banned from driving for two years as well as being handed a fine of £315.
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