A judge has spoken of a “bugbear” as Christmas approaches.
Deputy District Judge Chris Holmes was speaking at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
He said he had “a particular bugbear”, before adding, “if anybody appears in front of me for drink driving around the Christmas period and thinks that I am going to let them walk out of here”, to adjourn for two weeks to give their instructions to their solicitor, “they have another think coming”.
He said it is either guilty and a term of disqualification or not guilty and the case is then contested at a later stage.
Said Deputy District Judge Holmes: “So you don’t get to drink and drive over Christmas and then go into court and go ‘oh I need a few weeks for instructions’ and then get to drink drive all over Christmas again until the end of it. It doesn’t work that way.”
He continued: “I am just marking cards that I will not have this. It happens every year all around the countryside. People come in 14th/15th of December and go ‘oh we need a few weeks for instructions’. No.”
At the court a man from the Annaghmore area was accused of driving whilst unfit in Portadown on November 2 this year.
Jacob Richardson (22), of Derrycoose Road, is also charged with failing to provide a preliminary breath sample and an evidential sample.
As the current case was mentioned before the end of November the judge said he would allow it to be adjourned to December 5 for the solicitor to obtain the defendant’s instructions.
