Gary Crawford (24) of Mullaghgarrow Road appeared at Enniskillen Magistrates Court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to being drunk in charge of a vehicle. 

On February 28, at approximately 2.30am, police on mobile patrol at Wellington Place in Enniskillen encountered a parked Vauxhall Corsa with its engine and lights on. Crawford was inside with another person and was wiping the car windscreen when the officers approached. 

Crawford failed a preliminary breath test and when cautioned he said “I never moved the car, I was trying to warm up.” Afterwards, Crawford returned an evidential reading of 49 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath. 

Defence solicitor Bernard Corrigan handed in a character reference for Crawford, who works in the butcher department of a local shop. 

Mr Corrigan explained Crawford had been out with a friend on the night of the incident and they had arranged for a lift home but had gone to his car close to the bar they had been drinking in while they awaited the lift. He added the defendant’s licence was very important to him as he begins work at 6am.  

District Judge Nigel Broderick said he was satisfied Crawford had been trying to keep warm and there was no prospect of him driving, but told him “it’s never a good idea to get into a car and start the engine with drink consumed.” 

Judge Broderick said he understood Crawford needed his licence to get to work and said he was not going to disqualify him from driving. Instead, he fined him £250 and imposed 10 penalty points on his licence