'˜Homeless' drink-driver handed jail sentence

Peter James Hall, 29, was imprisoned for motoring offences and a separate assault on a hospital worker.

A judge at Belfast Magistrates’ Court also activated a previously suspended jail term as part of the overall sentence.

Hall, with an address at Summerhill Drive in Dunmurry, was granted bail pending an appeal.

He was convicted of driving with excess alcohol, having no insurance, driving while disqualified and obstructing police.

A second charge sheet involved common assault, assault on police and damage to police custody check-in equipment.

Hall was stopped in a car while over the limit on the city’s Lisburn Road last March.

Defence barrister Sean O’Hare told the court his client bought the Vauxhall Vectra because he was homeless and needed somewhere to live.

Hall had been moving the vehicle when he was arrested, the lawyer added.

In October last year he was detained again for allegedly punching a male nurse at the Royal Victoria Hospital.

He also lashed out at a police officer and then damaged an electrical cable belonging to the PSNI.

That incident occurred just 24 hours after he received a suspended four-month jail term for unrelated matters.

Mr O’Hare described Hall as a vulnerable individual with a number of problems.

Activating that sentence, District Judge Nigel Broderick decided to impose another four months for the new offences.

He then agreed to release Hall on bail ahead of a planned appeal against the total eight months behind bars.