A man who fell off his scooter while nearly three times over the legal limit was fined €700 and disqualified for three years at Galway District Court this week.
Tomas Sakavicius (25 ) with an address at 7 Oranhill Avenue, Oranmore, pleaded guilty last Monday to drink driving at Oranhill on January 2, 2009.
Inspector Michael Coppinger told the court that at 7.45pm the defendant was driving his scooter near his home and crashed onto a footpath and fell off. A woman who had been out walking her dog then alerted the gardai. He said that the defendant was arrested on suspicion of drink driving and later gave an alcohol reading of 104mgs per 100ml of breath, just shy of three times the legal limit of 35mgs.
“No wonder he fell off his scooter,” said a shocked Judge Mary Fahy who added that it was lucky the defendant was not far from his home and not on a busy road at the time.
The court then heard that the defendant has no previous convictions and has been out of work since losing his job in packaging.
Despite the reading being “exceptionally high” Judge Fahy took the plea of guilty into account and convicted and fined the defendant €700 with three months to pay. The driving licence was endorsed and he was disqualified from driving for three years.
