Enniskillen Magistrates Court on Monday has heard how a man who crashed into a garden was over three times the legal limit for alcohol.

Tomas Musteikis (41), originally from Lithuania, with an address of Main Street, Brookeborough had a reading of 120mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath following the crash on November 27, 2020.

On the day in question, police received a report of a car having crashed into a garden on the Killykeeran Road near Maguiresbridge and that the driver of the car was under the influence of alcohol.

When officers arrived they saw a Volkswagen Polo was in the garden of a property and a male was in the driver's seat of the car. Two black posts had been damaged as a result of the crash.

The defendant was slurring his words and stated to police that he had been drinking and driving.

The 41 year old failed a preliminary breath test and was arrested and taken to Omagh Police Station. An evidential reading taken at the station returned the high reading of 120mg.

On November 28, Musteikis was further arrested for having no insurance and no driving licence. During interview he said he did not know how much he had been drinking. He also said he had a Lithuanian driving licence and was unaware he needed to reapply for a licence in Northern Ireland.

Gary Black, representing the 41 year old, told the court in relation to having no driving licence his client had a Lithuanian licence for 20 years and was in the process of getting the licence converted.

In relation to the no insurance charge, Mr. Black said Musteikis took out insurance for 24 hours at a time as this was all he could afford and accepted there was no insurance at the time of the incident.

Leaving the most serious charges until last, the driving with excess alcohol in breath, Mr. Black said his client had struggled with alcohol in the past and during lockdown it had taken a grip of him again.

He said Musteikis remained at the scene after the accident and co-operated fully with the police and homeowners and that he had not sought to evade responsibility and asked the court to give him credit for his early plea.

Judge Austin Kennedy said it was quite a high reading which Mr. Black said was clearly accepted before Musteikis was convicted of driving with excess alcohol in breath, using a motor vehicle without insurance and having no driving licence.

He was disqualified from driving for 18 months, fined £525 and certified for the drink drivers course.