A KESH man has been warned his liberty is "hanging by a thread" after he received a suspended sentence for driving and public order offences.

Neill Armstrong (37), of Mantlin Road, Tattykeel Lower, Kesh, was convicted of driving with excess alcohol in breath, resisting police, assault on police, failing to stop, failing to remain, failing to report and taking a motor vehicle without authority concerning an incident on August 16, 2020.

On the night in question, police were tasked to a report of a suspected drunk driver in the Lack area, driving a Citroen Picasso.

At around 10pm it was reported the car had stopped on a back road and there was a male outside it, covered in white paint.

Police also received a report that the car had collided with a parked car in Lack, with this being caught on CCTV footage, which showed the car being reversed into a parking space.

A male then gets out of the car and argues with another person before returning and driving off, hitting the car in front.

The injured party contacted police to say her partner had followed the Picasso but lost it due to the speed the driver was travelling at. They said they knew Armstrong from being around the Lack area.

Police went to Armstrong's house and a vehicle with matching partial registration, which was seen on CCTV footage, was parked up. It had damage to its front, while there was also paint spatter on it. Armstrong's clothing also had paint on it.

The defendant was arrested but became violent and actively struggled, biting a police officer's boot, which resulted in them falling on the tarmac and hurting their knee and elbow.

Following his arrest, Armstrong gave a lower evidential reading of 88mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood.

He said in an interview that he was putting his dog in the kennel when police arrived.

When asked if it was him on the CCTV footage, he said it looked like him with the beard but he did not know.

Armstrong's barrister, Ciaran Roddy, told the court his client had managed to stay out of trouble for 35 years but the recent frequent appearances show "something has gone seriously wrong".

He said Armstrong had to deal with a significant degree of adversity including the breakdown of his marriage and the death of his father, and was "not able to deal with these issues in a healthy manner".

District Judge Steven Keown said Armstrong was "shooting himself in the foot" with the courts, Probation and people trying to help him, and he was on a self-destructive path.

Judge Keown said he was willing to hand down a suspended sentence to let Armstrong keep working with Probation, but his liberty was hanging by a thread.

Armstrong received a four-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, and was banned from driving for one year, with Judge Keown telling Armstrong: "You know the situation you are in."