A 44-YEAR-OLD man convicted of drink-driving for the fourth time has avoided going to prison, but has been banned from the roads for the next five years.

Nigel Patrick Gamble, of Urney Road, Clady, county Tyrone, was over three times the legal limit when he was observed driving erratically on the road between Enniskillen and Belleek on June 17, 2016.

At Fermanagh Magistrates Court on Monday, district judge, Nigel Broderick, observed that there was “every reason why you should be going to prison”, but after hearing the mitigating factors in the case imposed a suspended jail sentence on the defendant.

Gamble had entered guilty pleas at an earlier hearing to not wearing a seat belt and driving with excess alcohol in his breath at the Shore Road, Tully. During his sentencing hearing on Monday morning, the court heard that, at 5.30pm on June 17, police received a report of a male suspected to be under the influence of alcohol driving along the Lough Shore Road in Enniskillen.

Around 10 miles from Enniskillen, officers observed the vehicle in question being driven in an “erratic manner” and swerving over the white line as it travelled in the direction of Belleek.

Police signalled for the vehicle to stop and noted that the driver was not wearing his seat belt. After failing a preliminary breath test, Gamble was arrested and conveyed to Enniskillen custody suite.

A further evidential breath test returned a lower reading of 110 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath – 75 micrograms in excess of the legal limit. Defending solicitor, Sharon McBride, told the court that alcohol had played a part in a lot of her client’s offending, but added that he didn’t accept he had a problem.

After the judge observed that this was his fourth conviction for drink-driving, the solicitor replied that his last offence of a similar nature was “some time ago” in 2006. Conceding that Gamble was also in breach of a suspended sentence, she said that this had been due to expire next month and was for a “completely unrelated” matter.

In mitigation, Ms McBride said that her client was “very contrite” and accepted that his behaviour had been out-of-order. The solicitor told the court that the defendant was trying to turn his life around after suffering health difficulties and family bereavements. She added that Gamble had expressed his remorse to both herself and the Probation Service. The judge said that, not without some hesitation, he would impose a five-month prison term, suspended for three years. Mr Broderick also banned Gamble from driving for five years and directed him to remain disqualified until retested. For not wearing a seat belt, the judge imposed a £100 fine, a £15 offender levy and a concurrent three-month ban.