Drink driver gets a two-year ban

A MAN convicted of drinking and driving as well as having no insurance was disqualified for two years and fined €1,200.

Stuart Synnott (22), 39 Holywell Crescent, Kilcoole, appeared in Bray District Court last Thursday where he contested the matter.

Sergeant Barry Turner told the court that he was on mobile patrol in Newtownmountkennedy on Monday, February 6, at 12.55 a.m.

Sgt Turner said that as he and Garda Brian Burns were passing the Townhouse Pub and about to turn right towards Kilcoole, he saw a car parked on the right.

Sgt Turner said that there were just two circles in the frost on the windscreen out of which it would be possible to see.

He stopped the patrol car and then the driver of the car exited the vehicle and walked away towards Sycamore Drive.

Sgt Turner followed the man – Synnott – and stopped him.

Synnott told Sgt Turner that the passenger had the car keys. There was a woman in the car holding a large plastic cup containing beer and a smaller plastic cup containing a clear liquid.

He said that Synnott’s speech was slurred and there was a smell of alcohol.

Sgt Turner arrested Synnott, who replied ‘I was only dropping her home.’

Solicitor Dermot Hickey questioned Sgt Turner on the reason he was drawn to the vehicle in the first place. He put it to him that with clear circles in the windscreen, the driver could see out. ‘I couldn’t see in, so I presume the driver couldn’t see out,’ said Sgt Turner.

Garda Brian Burns told the court that Synnott was crying and upset in the patrol car and that he had said he regretted collecting the young woman to drop her home.

Synott was found to have nine microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.

It later emerged that the vehicle, registered to Synnott, was not insured.

Mr Hickey sought a dismissal on a number of grounds. He said that there was no evidence that the manner of driving was erratic. He said that there was no evidence given that gardaí saw Synott driving. Mr Hickey also said that his client was not properly in custody as he was not given notice of his rights prior to the start of the period of observation.

Judge Kennedy refused the applications. He said that Synnott had admitted driving and that it is not safe to drive with just circles of visibility in a frosted window. Judge Kennedy put Synnott off the road for two years and fined him €1,200.