A 20-YEAR-OLD who rode his Yamaha moped while drunk, crashed into a wall and tried to flee the scene has been banned from the roads for three years.
Marco McCormick was also fined £400 in the Magistrate’s Court, given a 120-hour community service order and put on probation for six months.
Advocate Chris Baglin, defending, said his client was “disgusted” with his behaviour and was well aware of the serious risks of drinking and driving following Dylan Pounds’s conviction last year for causing the deaths of Dean and Charlie Lowe by dangerous driving,
The court heard that McCormick had been drinking before the collision, which took place in the early hours of 15 November, and gave a breath test reading of more than three times the legal alcohol limit after he tried to ride home.
St Helier Centenier Paul Huelin, prosecuting, said witnesses saw McCormick riding the Yamaha scooter while “clearly drunk” and without wearing a helmet.
He said: “He was unsteady on his feet. He was very wobbly and swerving when he tried to drive away, and narrowly missed a parked car. He hit a wall in Clarence Road.”
Mr Huelin said McCormick tried to leave the scene but was unable to run in his drunken state and was detained by a witness.
A police breath test showed he had 118 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal maximum is 35 millilitres.
The court also heard that he had previous convictions for speeding and driving without a licence.
Advocate Baglin said: “Mr McCormick is under no illusions and is aware that a custodial sentence is possible today.”
However he pointed out that McCormick pleaded guilty early and had said: “This is the stupidest thing I have ever done and I’m disgusted by my behaviour.”
Relief Magistrate David Cadin agreed not to send McCormick to prison but told him: “You are extremely lucky no one else was involved.”
