A 23-YEAR-OLD man who abandoned the car he was driving following a crash has been disqualified from driving for 16 months.

Ryan McGovern, of Coole Drive, Enniskillen was convicted of driving with excess alcohol in breath following an incident between July 31 and August 3, 2020.

The court heard how police were called out to the Loughshore Road, Enniskillen to an abandoned car at around 6.20pm.

When they arrived, they found a damaged Jaguar F Type which had its airbags deployed and hazard lights on; however, there was nobody near the vehicle.

Police checks for the vehicle’s last registered owner found McGovern’s mother, who contacted her son.

He told her he was at a friend’s house nearby and was on his way home in a taxi.

Police stopped him in the taxi and he was identified as seeming to be clutching a bottle of wine.

A preliminary breath test was failed, and an evidential reading was produced of 73mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

McGovern said he had been out for a meal with a friend and had a glass of wine. While driving he swerved to avoid a car and crashed.

He then panicked and went to a friend’s house in The Limes, where he drank a bottle of wine.

Defence barrister, Ciaran Roddy, said his client had never been in a road traffic accident before, and panicked, and went to a friend’s house where he made the foolish mistake of consuming alcohol after driving.

Mr. Roddy added McGovern accepts that there would be a disqualification as a result of the incident, which will have an effect on his job.

He asked for the court to take into account McGovern’s clear record and his guilty plea before the case was to go for contest.

District Judge Steven Keown disqualified the 23-year-old for 16 months and also handed down a £400 fine. McGovern was also certified for the drink driver’s course.