Test drive leads to two-year ban

A man who took his friend’s car for a test drive thought that his own insurance would cover him.

Martin Byrne (26), 14 Burnaby Lawns, Greystones, was driving on the R117 at Enniskerry on April 17, 2017. He was thinking about buying the car and was not insured.

At Bray District Court last Thursday, Judge Bernadette Owens handed down a fine of €200 and banned him from driving for two years.

He was also fined €100 for having no NCT, and €150 for the failure to produce NCT at Victoria Road, Greystones, on June 3, 2017. It has been a busy start to the New Year for Wicklow’s two mountain rescue teams with five call-outs already this month.

The most recent incident occurred on Sunday after a woman suffered an ankle injury while walking in Glendalough.

The Glen of Imaal and Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue Teams were contacted by the gardaí at 2.53 p.m. after the walker twisted her ankle on the Spinc as she tried to help a lost and injured dog.

The casualty was making her way slowly towards the Miner’s Village assisted by another walker when mountain rescue personnel met them. She was checked by an advanced paramedic before being assisted form the hill. The dog was also carried down from the hill and was reunited with its owner. The teams were stood down at 5 p.m.

On Sunday, January 14, as both the Dublin Wicklow Mountains Rescue Team and the Glen of Imaal Mountain Rescue Team responded to five walkers in difficulty at Lugnaquilla.

The walkers aged in their 20s became disoriented while descending Leinster’s highest peak. The alert was out at 4.20 p.m. When the group was reached by a mountain rescue hill party, one of the walkers had to be assessed by medics having sustained a lower leg injury. The group were escorted off the mountain via Art’s Lough and were picked up on the nearest mountain track by mountain rescue vehicles before being safely transported off the hill. The rescue operation was stood down at 8.33 p.m..

On Friday, January 12, a female runner got into difficulty in the Glendalough area at around 5.19 p.m.. Both of Wicklow’s Mountain Rescue teams deployed vehicles to search the track systems and the woman was finally located in the Mullacor area.

She was transported to the Glen of Imaal Mountain Rescue Team base where she was treated by medics for a lower leg injury. The incident was stood down at 6.01 p.m.

The first and second call-out of the year occurred on the same day, Saturday, January 6.

At 2.41 p.m., both teams were tasked to assist a male walker who had slipped while descending the Fraughan Rock Glen.

The man, who had injured his lower leg, was located and assessed by medics, then stretchered to a mountain rescue vehicle and brought to a waiting ambulance to be transported to hospital.

The teams were stood down at 4.29 p.m. but were called out again at 8.04 p.m. when a male walker required assistance on the Brockaghs. Crews accessed the area via the forest tracks and located the walker who was then assessed by medics.

He had sustained a lower leg injury and was stretchered to a waiting ambulance and taken to hospital. The incident was stood down just before 10 p.m.