A man who crashed his car on the Belfast Road was under the influence of a number of drugs, a court has heard.

On July 3, 2021, at around 3pm police were tasked to a damage only road traffic collision on the Belfast Road, Enniskillen.

When police arrived, the driver of the car, Nathan Armstrong (23), of Grogey Road, Fivemiletown appeared to be intoxicated and was unsteady on his feet, his speech was slurred, and his eyes glazed. He was arrested for driving while unfit.

He was taken to a custody suite where he told police he had consumed "yellows" and admitted driving the vehicle.

An analysis of blood sample taken from Armstrong returned a reading for cocaine, cannabis, diazepam and a number of other drugs in his system.

Michael Fahy, Armstrong's solicitor, told the court his client had a largely clear record and pointed out it had been almost two years since this particular incident occurred.

He said the impact of this meant Armstrong would have to re-sit his driving test and he asked the court to keep the mandatory disqualification to the minimum.

Deputy District Judge Liam McStay pointed out that Armstrong had quite an extensive history of drug abuse with Mr. Fahy responding that that had abated.

He added that some of the drugs in Armstrong's system at the time were prescribed medication and some were not.

In convicting Armstrong of dangerous driving and driving when unfit, Judge McStay said to protect the public the disqualification had to be more than the minimum.

And taking into account Armstrong's guilty plea he decided the ban would be 14 months along with £400 in fines.