Suspect facing a lengthy ban after being stopped by gardai

A LORRY driver was arrested by gardai and allegedly found more than 10 times over the legal limit.

The motorist was stopped and tested in Little Island near Cork city centre at 3pm on Monday.

He was arrested and taken to the Garda station where a breath sample came back with 108 microgrammes of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

A source said: “He blew a very high reading – 108 equates to about 10 drinks – he was quite drunk.

“Gardai would have charged him in the station or can summons him to appear in court – with that reading he could lose his licence and his job.”

Under drink-driving laws, the legal limit for professional drivers is nine microgrammes of alcohol per 100ml of breath or 20m per 100ml of blood. The driver is likely to be banned from the road for a considerable amount of the time but the penalty varies depending on the nature of the offence.

The law states: “Penalties for drink-driving will vary depending on the amount of alcohol in your system.

“The court will also take into account whether this is your first offence or otherwise. “Under the penalties introduced by the Road Traffic Act 2006 all convictions carry a mandatory disqualification from driving.”

The latest Road Safety Authority statistics show alcohol is a factor in 39% of all driver fatalities.

And 8,920 drivers were arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of an intoxicant in 2017, compared to 8,067 arrests in 2016.

microgrammes per 100ml of breath is the reading man gave