Keralite Drink-Driver Who Crashed Near Belfast School With Children in Car Banned From Driving

BELFAST, June 17: A Keralite man who crashed his car outside a north Belfast school while carrying two children has been disqualified from driving for 20 months.

Tito Thomas (name changed), a warehouse worker from Cosgrave Court, Belfast, was also ordered to complete 80 hours of community service after pleading guilty to driving with excess alcohol.

Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard that Thomas was driving a Mitsubishi when he collided with a parked vehicle in the Churchill Street area on April 27 this year. Two children, believed to be aged three and eleven, were in the car at the time.

Following the crash, Thomas reportedly stumbled out of the vehicle and entered a nearby school. Police officers called to the scene observed that his eyes were glazed, his speech was slurred and he smelled of alcohol.

After failing a preliminary breath test, a subsequent evidential blood sample revealed that he was nearly three times over the legal alcohol limit.

The court was told that Thomas, originally from India, moved to Northern Ireland with his family about five years ago and had no previous convictions.

Defence solicitor Niall O’Neill said his client had been suffering from a throat infection on the day of the incident and had been unable to take time off work. According to the defence, colleagues had suggested that consuming alcohol could help him “sweat out” the illness.

“He took that amateurish doctor’s advice, but had not eaten because of his illness,” Mr O’Neill told the court.

During earlier proceedings, District Judge Natasha Fitzsimons expressed concern about the presence of the children in the vehicle and requested pre-sentence reports. She also sought clarification on whether social services had become involved following the incident.

“He has an eleven-year-old and a three-year-old in the car whilst he has this evidential reading in breath and he crashes the car,” the judge observed.

At the sentencing hearing, District Judge Steven Keown imposed a 20-month driving ban, noting the seriousness of the circumstances. He also acknowledged that social services had been involved and expressed hope that any related concerns had been properly investigated.