A court in Derry was told yesterday that a retired factory worker from Co. Donegal crashed into a police landrover on the outskirts of the city last month after he'd consumed twenty of Bacardi and Cokes.
David Mehaffey (60), from Blackrock, Coolatee, in Lifford, was fined £400 and disqualified from driving for one year when he admitted the drink driving offence at the local Magistrate's Court.
A prosecution lawyer told Deputy District Judge James
McFarland that the defendant drove his car, with sparks flying from underneath the vehicle, along the Culmore Road on July 29 last.
The police drove after him and attempted to stop him by deploying a Stinger system; however, the defendant drove on and was only arrested when he crashed his Ford Focus into a police landrover.
A blood sample showed he had more than twice the legal amount of alcohol in his system.
Defence solicitor John Fahy said his client had gone with two friends to the Cultra Transport Museum.
They then returned to Strabane Cricket Club where the defendant had a few drinks before taking a taxi home.
"That is the last recollection he has until he woke up the next day in the cells at Strand Road police station here in Derry. He has never been in court before.
“When he woke up, he made full admissions to the police.
Remembers nothing
"He remembers nothing about what happened.
“He doesn't remember taking his car and doesn't know why he took it out
“He accepts he was lucky that he was apprehended by the police and that no-one was injured as a result of his actions", he said.
The full article contains 282 words and appears in Journal Friday DER Edition newspaper.
