APPEAL LODGED OVER SEVERITY OF SENTENCE
37-year-oldman detected speeding at161kphonM1
A 37-year-old man has lodged an appeal against the severity of sentences he received for driving without insurance and driving without a licence.
William Duffy, Park Mews, Coulter Place, Dundalk, had pleaded guilty to charges arising out of an incident last year when he was detected travelling at more than 160kph on the M1.
He was accused of dangerous driving, and the district court accepted a plea to a lesser charge of careless driving.
Evidence was given that on 6 November, 2019, gardaí were operating a speed check on the motorway at Charleville, Ardee when they clocked Duffy at 161kph.
When stopped, he admitted he had neither insurance nor a driving licence.
The road was not busy at the time, though it had been raining earlier.
There are 35 previous convictions, seven of which are for no insurance, and five of those
came at Leeds Magistrates in 2001.
Barrister Stephen Faulkner said his client was a father of five.
He was cognisant of his history and aware that he was at risk of a custodial sentence.
The defendant contributed to the community in Muirhevnamór by delivering groceries on foot or as a passenger in a van to elderly people during lockdown. He did this in a voluntary capacity. He was in receipt of the €350 COVID-19 payment.
Letters from Duffy, his partner and Declan McEneaney
of the XL Shop were handed into court.
Mr Faulkner asked the judge to consider community service.
Judge Miriam Walsh noted this was his ‘ third outing’ without insurance in this jurisdiction and he was already disqualified from driving.
‘Of course, the lady will write in wonderful terms of her partner; and Mr Declan McEneaney of the XL Shop says he is dependable, reliable, resourceful and extremely competent.’
The judge continued that lockdown was in March and these offences occurred the previous November.
‘Did he become Mother Teresa in the last couple of months?’
She said she had considered everything in relation to community service but couldn’t ignore Duffy’s ‘capacity for ignoring the rules of the road’.
For no insurance, a threemonth sentence and four-year disqualification were imposed.
The defendant was sentenced to a concurrent term of three months for driving without a licence and disqualified for two years for careless driving.
William Duffy took up bail to appeal.