Driver on DLA found walking mile and a half from crash
Published 10 Oct 2012 08:50
A 45-year-old driver with "mobility issues" was found walking a mile-and-a-half from where he crashed his car, Fermanagh Court has heard.
Denis Dorrian, who is in receipt of Disability Living Allowance, was provided with a new vehicle after his Volkswagen Golf ended up on its roof with a wheel and shock absorber in a nearby field.
He admitted driving without due care and attention, was fined £200 and banned from driving for a month, for what District Judge John Meehan described as "an outrageous loss of control".
A prosecutor told the court that around 8.40am on November 12, last year, police received a report of a single-vehicle crash on the Lattone Road at Belcoo. They found a red Volkswagen Golf lying on its roof in the Belcoo bound lane. One of its wheels and a shock absorber where in a nearby field.
The officers discovered Dorrian about a mile-and-a-half away, walking towards Garrison. He said he was in shock after the crash and was walking home. He provided a preliminary breath sample which produced an alcohol reading of 20, which was under the legal limit of 35.
Dorrian told police he had been driving along the road about 60mph when an animal, possibly a dog or fox, ran out from his right and he swerved to the left to avoid it, going on to the grass verge and losing control of his car, which ended up on its roof. He appeared to be tired and said he believed he had misjudged the road conditions.
Defence barrister, Miss Heather Philips, said Dorrian had "mobility issues" and a criminal record but his last conviction was 14 years ago and his last for careless driving was in 1993 for an offence committed in 1992, almost 20 years ago.
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