Man’s brother and relative murdered in South Africa

DRUNKEN DRIVING CASE HEARS DEFENDANT OUT OF JURISDICTION

A DEFENDANT in a drunken driving case in Listowel on Thursday had left the jurisdiction following the murder of his brother and another member of his family in Johannesburg, Judge David Waters heard.

Quentin Klopper, 2 Willow Court, Listowel, was convicted at the District Court on Thursday as gardaí outlined how they had found him in an intoxicated state in a parked car with the ignition running on April 29 of last year.

Mr Klopper was not in court on Thursday, as it emerged he was now out of the jurisdiction amid uncertainty over the prospect of his imminent return.

Gardaí informed the Court that they arrested Mr Klopper - following a call-out to the Baile Ó Dubhdha estate in Listowel on the night – outside his home in Willow Court.

Garda Pádraig Ryan said his attention was drawn to an Audi A4 outside the home. “The lights were turned on and the ignition was running....I spoke to the male driver, in the driver’s seat...I got a very strong smell of intoxicating liquor from his breath, and his speech was slurred,” Gda Ryan explained.

He arrested Mr Klopper and took him to Listowel Garda Station, where a sample of urine he provided later returned a reading of 230 mg of alcohol per 100 mls of urine. Mr Klopper was convicted of the offence of drunken driving. Solicitor Pat Enright told the court that the defendant, who worked as a welder, was ‘out of the jurisdiction’ and was suffering through a devastating trauma: “His brother and another member of his family were murdered in Johannesburg.”

Judge Waters put Mr Klopper off the road for three years.