Brian McDonagh (33) of Drumcon Woood, Drumcoo in Lisbellaw pleaded guilty to drink driving when he appeared before Enniskillen Magistrates Court on Monday. 

He was detected by police at 8.30am on May 28th at the Wattlebridge Road after officers became suspicious of his manner of driving. 

When stopped, they detected a strong smell of alcohol and McDonagh admitted that he had been at a wedding and had ordered a taxi which didn’t turn up to pick him up. He failed a roadside breath test and was conveyed to Enniskillen Police Station. 

A doctor was called to take a blood sample after the evidential breath testing machine malfunctioned.  Forensic analysis of the submitted sample revealed a reading of 102 milligrammes of alcohol in 100ml of blood, a total of 22 milligrammes over the legal blood limit. 

Defence solicitor Brian Charity said that his client was a married father-of-four and had been attending a wedding on the date in question. 

“A taxi had been arranged to collect him and when it didn’t arrive he had tried to get accommodation but everywhere was booked up. He took the foolish decision to drive home and was detected by police when he came upon a security alert.”

Mr Charity added that his client had co-operated with police and readily admitted his consumption of alcohol. 

District Judge Nigel Broderick told McDonagh: “I think you realise with hindsight that it was a very poor decision to drive with excess alcohol.”

McDonagh was fined £250 and disqualified from driving for 12 months and remains disqualified until retested. He also certified McDonagh as a suitable candidate for the drink-driving course.