Man drove from bar to bar

George Edward MacMorris, Wrights Park, Rathfriland, was banned from driving for 12 months last Thursday at Banbridge Magistrates Court.

He was also fined £300 and ordered to pay a £15 offender’s levy for driving with excess alcohol in his breath on September 26 this year. The court heard that a police mobile patrol saw the defendant sitting in a car at one bar and then driving to another bar.

He was stopped at Kiltariff Park, Rathfriland, and failed a preliminary breath test.

In Lurgan custody suite an evidential test gave a reading of 59. A barrister representing the defendant said he was the sole carer for his mother and the loss of his licence would bring about hardship in the way he carried out the daily chores.

He explained that MacMorris had dropped his mother off at a friend’s house and gone to the pub where he had three pints.

The lawyer said that the defendant had a previous similar conviction but it was outside the ten year period.