Impromptu decision to visit ill brother leaves Derryman in court

A man who decided to visit his brother in Letterkenny Hospital at 5 in the morning after being out drinking ended up crashing his car a short distance from his home.
20-year-old Aaron Moore of 51, Leafair Park in Derry appeared at Derry Magistrate’s Court yesterday charged with failing to report an accident, driving with excess alcohol and having no vehicle test certificate on March 11.
The court was told that at 5 a.m. police were called to the scene of an accident on the Glengalliagh Road and found a car on its roof with the lights still on and the radio playing.
There were tyre tracks for some 45 metres leading to the scene.
Police traced the car to Moore and when they called they found he was unsteady on his feet and an evidential breath test revealed him to be 53 mgs over the legal limit.
They also found fresh blood in the house and on Moore’s hands.
He denied having driven the car and said he had been drinking and then been in his bed but could offer no explanation as to how the car ended up where it did.
Nor could he offer an explanation as to why there was a slipper in the car and the matching slipper in his house.
Defence solicitor Mr. Paddy MacDermott said that his client had no notion of driving after being out drinking.
He said he had taken taxis to get home but then took a notion to visit his brother who was in Letterkenny Hospital and then had crashed within a short distance.
Moore was fined a total of £475 and disqualified from driving for a year.