A Lithuanian man who was found in the driver’s seat of a car in which he and his male companion were drinking whiskey beside Lough Lannagh was found to have been drunk in charge of a vehicle and disqualified from driving at Wednesday’s Castlebar District Court.
Garda Colette Farrragher went to Lough Lannagh at 7.40pm on December 15 2011 after a complaint was made that a man was urinating beside a car. In the car the garda found two men. The man who was sitting in the driver’s seat was Robertas Burdaitis, 23 Dunbeg, Newport Road, Castlebar.
Garda Farragher observed the keys in the ignition and saw the defendant had a bottle of Jack Daniel’s on his lap, which he threw into the back seat. Garda Farragher smelt alcohol from his breath and Burdaitis was arrested.
At Castlebar Garda Station he provided a breath specimen which gave a reading of 97mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.
The defendant told the court that he did not intend to drive that night but to walk to his friend’s house which was nearby.
The 36-year-old unemployed man, who has been in Ireland since 2006, has no previous convictions.
The defendant was convicted and fined €750 and disqualified from driving for three years.
