A man was caught drink-driving by Gardai after they noticed a scarf sticking out of his car.
Seamus Gallagher was spotted by Gardai leaving a venue in Downings and driving towards Carrigart at 3.28am on February 22nd, 2015.
They had noticed a piece of clothing trailing out of the car and decided to follow it.
They then noticed Gallagher driving his grey BMW car erratically.
As well as crossing back and forth over the white line on the road, Gallagher was driving in excess of 100 kph in an 80kph zone.
Gardai activated their blue lights and stopped Gallagher at Rosapenna.
When he got out of the car he was unsteady on his feet and was slurring his speech.
He told Gardai that he had only consumed two pints that evening.
Letterkenny District Court heard the reading taken by Gardai showed 38 microgrammes of alcohol per 200 millilitres of breath.
Solicitor for the accused Frank Dorrian said the reading would suggest that his client, from Glebe, Downings, only had two pints and was only slightly over the legal limit.
Judge Alan Mitchell replied that this was the classic case that not everyone reacted in the same way to the same amount of alcohol consumed.
He commented that if Mr Gallagher might not have had the last sip of beer he might be facing a six-month driving ban.
Mr Dorrian said his client had been doing others a favour by leaving them home and that his front seat passenger had got her scarf caught in the door and drew the Gardai’s attention.
He added that his client was now based and working in the UK.
Judge Mitchell fined Mr Gallagher €400 and banned him from driving for one year.
Tags: