Sunday afternoon drink driver given prison sentence

Alastair Spencer John Robb, Mourneview Avenue, Lurgan, admitted a number of charges at a previous sitting of the court.

A public prosecutor said that on April 29 this year at approximately 12.20pm police saw a car in Union Street, Lurgan, and checks showed there was no insurance on the vehicle.

They travelled behind it and before it stopped in Glenavon Crescent where Robb got out of the car and started to walk away.

There was a smell of alcohol on his breath and there was a scuffle as police went to arrest him so he had to be taken to the ground.

He refused to provide a preliminary breath sample but in custody an evidential sample gave a reading of 79. He also gave false details.

Robb didn’t have a full licence and was driving unaccompanied with no ‘L’ plates displayed.

A solicitor said alcohol was behind a lot of Robb’s offending and Robb was mindful that he could receive custody. She added that he accepted he needed to deal with his alcohol issue.

District Judge, Mrs Bernie Kelly, said the pre-sentence report was of no use to her because Robb had failed to tell probation this was his second drink drive offence inside two years.

She added that this happened in the middle of the day on a Sunday and he was one and a half times the legal limit.

“You told probation you were taking it for a test drive,” said Judge Kelly. “You did not tell them you were drunk at the time.”

For driving uninsured and with excess alcohol in his breath he was sentenced to two months in prison on each offence. He was also banned from driving for three years and ordered to pay a £25 offender’s levy.

Another concurrent two month prison term was imposed for obstructing police.

For failing to stop he was fined £100 and banned for six months while for driving unaccompanied he was fined £100 and a £25 fine was imposed for not displaying ‘L’ plates. Later in the court Robb was released on his own bail of £500 to appeal.

Conditions of his bail are a curfew from 9pm to 6am, a complete alcohol ban and he is not to travel in the front of any motor vehicle.