Drink-driver who crashed car outside school had two children in vehicle
A drink-driver who crashed outside a north Belfast school while two children were in his car has been banned from getting behind the wheel for 20 months.
Joji Thomas, 46, claimed he had taken alcohol in a bid to “sweat out” a throat infection.
The warehouse worker, of Cosgrave Court in the city, was also given 80 hours community service.
Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard he stumbled out of his Mitsubishi car after colliding with a parked vehicle in the Churchill Street area on April 27 this year.
Two children, believed to be aged three and eleven, were travelling with him at the time.
Thomas went into the school but was arrested when police officers were called to the scene.
“They noticed his eyes were glazed, his speech was slurred and he smelt of liquor,” a prosecution lawyer said.
Having failed a preliminary breath test, an evidential blood sample later revealed he was nearly three times over the legal limit.
Thomas pleaded guilty to a charge of driving with excess alcohol.
Originally from India, he moved with his family to Northern Ireland five years ago.
Defence solicitor Niall O’Neill previously said he had been ill and unable to take time off work on the day of the incident.
Colleagues gave him “amateurish doctor’s advice” about getting rid of his throat infection by sweating it out through alcohol, the court heard. Mr O’Neill stressed: “My client has lived here with no blemish against his name.”
Imposing the 20-month driving ban, District Judge Steven Keown indicated it was to reflect the circumstances of the incident.
He added: “I note social services were involved, so hopefully those issues were investigated.”