Over-the-limit motorist was driving car with 'shredded' front tyre

Ciaran McCaffrey (43), of Castle Avenue in Randalstown, admitted charges of driving with excess alcohol in breath and using a vehicle which was in a dangerous condition.

He was at Antrim Magistrates' Court, sitting in Ballymena, where a prosecutor said that around 1am on March 19 this year police were travelling on the Castle Road near Antrim town when they saw a Ford Fiesta, with hazard lights on, driving towards Randalstown at a speed of around 15mph.

When they spoke to the defendant there was a strong smell of intoxicating liquor. He failed a preliminary breath test and at a police station the alcohol in breath reading was 70 - the legal limit is 35.

The prosecutor said the "nearside front tyre was shredded".

References regarding the defendant were supplied to the court. One was from a police "detective inspector".

The other was from the defendant's "employer" - a "school teacher". The court heard the defendant "works at a school in Belfast".

A defence solicitor said his client had been at an event in Belfast on the day in question and after returning home "around 11pm" he made a "foolish decision" to go and collect a pizza. On the return journey, the solicitor said, the defendant's car "suffered a blow out".

The lawyer said the incident had been an "aberration" and the defendant was "more than embarrassed".

District Judge Nigel Broderick said he took into account a previously clear record and guilty plea and banned the defendant from driving for a year and fined him £400.