Donegal motorists caught driving on wrong side of dual carriageway while drunk
Sulcas Mandaugas (46) of Cedar Grove, Carndonagh, Donegal was charged with driving with excess alcohol and dangerous driving on December 11
A man with an address in County Donegal has appeared at Derry Magistrates' Court after being detected driving on the wrong side of a dual carriageway when drunk.
Sulcas Mandaugas (46) of Cedar Grove, Carndonagh, Donegal was charged with driving with excess alcohol and dangerous driving on December 11.
The court heard that off duty police officers spotted his car driving on the wrong side of the A6 dual carriageway.
They signalled him to stop and he performed a U turn and stopped behind the police.
Upon talking to him, the officers noticed him slurring his speech with a strong smell of alcohol. He subsequently gave an evidential reading of 107mgs some three times the legal limit and was charged with driving while drunk and dangerous driving.
Defence solicitor Derwin Harvey said Mandaugas had given a 'prompt and early' plea.
He said that Mandaugas, originally from Lithuania, had been working in the area and had consumed alcohol with no intention of driving.
When he decided to drive home, Harvey said that he put his address into the GPS and blindly followed the directions given without fully paying attention to the road.
District Judge Barney McElholm said he would not know how to set a Sat Nav and did not intend to learn.
He said it was foolish to blindly follow such instructions especially with a reading as high as his was.
Mandaugas was sentenced to five months in custody, suspended for two years and ordered to pay a fine of £500. He was also disqualified from driving for 18 months.