Driver lost control after cigarette ash hit eye

A man who crashed his car in Londonderry lost control after he got cigarette ash in his eye, a court has been told.

Ryan Paul Mooney, 18, from Abbeydale in the Waterside, pleaded guilty to drink driving and driving dangerously on the Foyle Road in April 2011.

Londonderry Magistrate's Court was told that he careered across the road and crashed into two parked cars after ash from his passenger's cigarette got into his eye.

The supermarket assistant, who was twice the legal drink drive limit, was fined £200 and banned from driving for 12 months.

He had taken his parents' car while they were on holiday and after a night's drinking, he drove to get diesel.

When the ash from his passenger's cigarette got into his eye, Mooney lost control of the car and crashed into a central reservation.

He then swerved across the road and crashed into the two parked cars causing them substantial damage.

The air-bag in the car Mooney was driving deployed and police arrived and arrested him.

The court was told that his actions have impacted detrimentally on his parents' car insurance.