Ulster rugby star Brett Herron caught over drink drive limit at McDonalds

Newtownards Magistrates Court heard that 21-year-old fly half Brett William Herron had been drinking with friends when he got home to find the fridge empty and the cupboard bare so had foolishly gotten behind the wheel to go to nearby McDonalds for food.

A prosecuting lawyer said it was in the car park of the fast food outlet on the Upper Newtownards Road, Dundonald, where police found him to be over the limit on January 22 this year.

Herron, from the Motelands in east Belfast, pleaded guilty to a charge of driving with excess alcohol.

His defence solicitor revealed that in the aftermath of the “embarrassing” incident, his bosses at Ulster rugby had docked two weeks’ pay from his wages and made him unavailable for team selection, submitting he had “already faced a degree of punishment” as well as the attached adverse publicity.

District Judge Mark Hamill said that in light of his clear record, he would impose a 12-month driving disqualification and £250 fine but that he would certify the 21-year-old for the drink driving course which would decrease his ban to nine months.

He told him however he would not be allowed back on the road “until you pass the driving test” again.

Herron signed for Ulster from Bath last summer which saw him move to Belfast where his father and grandparents had grown up.

Sent from my iPhone