AN IRVINE man was disqualified and told to pay £400 after drinking two bottles of Budweiser, getting in his car then being caught with no insurance.

Ryan McLaughlan, 26, admitted drink driving and driving without insurance when he appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last week.

A third charge on the criminal complaint had been dropped by prosecutors.

The court heard McLaughlan, of Windlestraw Court, was pulled over by police at around 1.45am in the morning in Thornhouse Avenue on June 26 this year.

The Procurator Fiscal said: “Police checked on the national computer and found he had no insurance and asked him to sit in the rear of the vehicle.”

Officers smelled alcohol before McLaughlan admitted to having drank two bottles of Budweiser in the evening. Officers took a breath sample showing 30 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath.

McLaughlan’s solicitor said his client hadn’t realised a standing order payment on his insurance had not been honoured, and hadn’t appreciated the drink drive limit was ‘virtually nil now’

The sheriff said it was an ‘expensive’ two bottles of beer before fining him £400, plus a £20 victim surcharge. He was also disqualified for 12 months and ordered to take part in a course.