A Bantry man was awakened shortly after midnight to the sound of a BMW driver spinning his wheels on his back lawn.

Sgt Tom Mulcahy gave evidence at Bantry District Court that the accused Artur Shcherbakov (25), a Ukrainian national who is living with his grandfather at the Westlodge Hotel, was charged with drink driving, driving without insurance, and damaging property.

The sergeant said the accused has been resident in Ireland for three years and has three previous convictions, two of which are for driving without insurance.

Sgt Mulcahy said a resident at Ardnageehy Beg woke to the sound of the accused ‘revving around his back garden’ and he confronted the man, even assisted him because his vehicle couldn’t get traction on the wet grass.

It was as the homeowner was talking to Gda Joanne O’Mahony and outlining what happened in the early hours of October 3rd last that the accused drove out a side entrance onto the public road.

When gardaí approached the accused they believed he was acting in an erratic manner. He kept putting his hoodie up and walking away. The sergeant said he was incoherent and kept texting.

There was a strong smell of alcohol from the accused and Sgt Mulcahy said a subsequent urine test showed an alcohol level of 217mg per 100ml, which the judge described as ‘huge’ because the legal limit is 67mg.

The sergeant also pointed out that the accused was a disqualified driver at the time of this offence.

Flor Murphy, solicitor defending, said his client had gouged holes in the man’s well-maintained lawn but when asked what amount would compensate him for the damage he declined saying he had taken care of it and had filled the holes himself.

Mr Murphy said his client was out drinking with a friend and wanted to get back to the hotel so he would be able to get the bus to work at a fish factory the following morning.

However, he drove on a link road that led to the back of a number of houses and that’s when the accused drove onto the lawn and couldn’t get out because of the steepness of the slope.

Judge Joanne Carroll noted that the accused had consumed a huge amount of alcohol and should not have put people’s lives at risk. ‘The only positive is that he didn’t knock anyone down and kill them,’ she added.

The judge sentenced the accused to three-months for drink driving but suspended the sentence for 12 months and disqualified him from driving.

For driving without insurance, the accused was sentenced to three-months in prison but that too was suspended for 12 months and he was disqualified from driving for four years.

A charge of causing criminal damage to the lawn was marked proven but taken into consideration.