A man who was found to be over three times the legal limit after colliding with a parked vehicle while driving the wrong way around a one-way system has been disqualified for 18 months.
The 36-year-old’s solicitor told court his client had no previous convictions having lived in this jurisdiction for four years.
Karolis Milancius, of King Street in Portadown, had pleas entered on his behalf to driving with excess alcohol, using a vehicle without insurance and breaching a traffic sign at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
Prosecution outlined that on October 10, at around 3.45pm, police received a report of a two vehicle collision on William Street in Portadown.
Officers arrived to find this defendant still sitting in the driver’s seat of a Renault vehicle which was facing the wrong direction down the one-way street. It had collided with a parked Land Rover.
Upon speaking to Milancius, police noted that his speech was slurred and he smelled of intoxicating liquor.
A preliminary breath test was conducted resulting in a fail with an evidential sample obtained in custody giving a reading of 128mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath – over three times the legal limit.
It was later established by police that Milancius was also not insured to drive this vehicle on the date in question.
Defence solicitor Philip Reid stated: “This is a very high reading your worship and you will be concerned that he was not facing in the right direction.
“It was a short journey to the shops. He was going very slowly. I think it is said that the tyres collided. This was low impact and low damage.”
He added that the defendant had no previous convictions, having lived in this jurisdiction for four years.
Deputy District Judge Chris Holmes disqualified Milancius from driving for 18 months and ordered him to pay a fine of £550, along with an offender’s levy of £15, within 26 weeks.
The defendant was certified for the drink driving course which would see his ban reduced by one quarter upon completion.
