A drink-driver has been fined £500 and banned from roads for a year after changing his plea to guilty.

Michael Karl McAllister had previously denied the offence, with a pre-trial review set for September 3.

However, on that date, the 43-year-old asked for the charge to be put again and pleaded guilty.

Prosecuting advocate Hazel Carroon told magistrates that a witness saw McAllister driving a Ford Transit van on heading South from the Quarterbridge.

They described the vehicle as colliding with kerbs and swerving in the road, so they called the police.

McAllister pulled over, stopping in Ballasalla.

Police arrived and the defendant failed a roadside breathalyser test.

At police headquarters, a further test produced a reading of 42, above the legal limit of 35.

When interviewed, McAllister told police he had drunk two lager shandies in a pub in Ramsey, and was also on medication, but said he thought he’d been fit to drive.

However, he admitted that he had felt drowsy, so that was why he stopped in Ballasalla.

A second conviction for drink-driving, within 10 years of each other, results in a 5-year-ban.

Defence advocate Ian Kermode said that his client had a similar conviction in Ballymena, in 2025, but it was said that a conviction in Northern Ireland does not trigger that law.

Mr Kermode said that McAllister, who lives at Dreemskerry in Maughold, had initially denied the offence, because of the possibility of a medical condition affecting the reading.

However, the advocate said an expert report had now ruled out that.

Mr Kermode asked for credit to be given for his client’s co-operation with police.

Magistrates also ordered £300 prosecution costs and an extended driving test at the end of the ban.

McAllister will pay at a rate of £10 per week, deducted from benefits.