Drink-driving banker went through local shop window
I was trying to park and my foot slipped, he told gardaí
A BANK employee who accidentally drove his car through the front of his local supermarket while intoxicated has been fined and disqualified from driving for three years.
CCTV footage was shown in court of John Fanning, 48, attempting to park his black Jaguar before propelling it through the shop front and into the supermarket, hitting a fruit and vegetable stand.
He told gardaí he had been attempting to park when his foot had slipped on the accelerator.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard Fanning was a well-known customer at the shop and was
He got a strong smell of alcohol
welcome to return. ‘Presumably not in the way he arrived that day,’ remarked Judge Martin Nolan.
Fanning, of Shenick Road, Skerries, Co. Dublin, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and drink-driving at C&T Supermarket, Skerries, shortly after 1pm on September 17, 2019. He has no previous convictions.
Judge Nolan said the CCTV revealed what occurred on the day, with Fanning arriving to go to the chemist and hitting the accelerator instead of the brake. He noted that no one was injured.
The judge took into account that Fanning had a strong work history and the guilty plea was to his credit. He said it seemed to him that Fanning did not deserve a custodial term.
Judge Nolan imposed a €2,000 fine and disqualified Fanning from driving for three years. He granted a request that the disqualification be deferred until February 1, to allow Fanning time to make provisions for his elderly mother, on condition that he will undertake not to drink during this time.
Garda Shaun McElroy told prosecution counsel Siobhán Ní Chúlacháin that a member of the Dublin Fire Brigade had been in the shop on the morning and was an eyewitness to the events.
He said the man heard a crash and saw the car come fully into the shop. He went to help a woman before asking the driver if he was okay.
He told gardaí he got a strong smell of alcohol from the driver, who said his foot had got stuck on the accelerator of the car.
Gda McElroy said that when he arrived, Fanning told him his foot had slipped on the accelerator causing him to cross the footpath and go into the shop. He also smelled alcohol and noted Fanning’s eyes were bloodshot.
Fanning admitted he had been drinking but said it had not been much. He was breathalysed and found to have a concentration of 72 micrograms (mcg) of alcohol per 100ml of breath. The legal drink-driving limit is 22mcg/100ml breath, meaning he was three times the legal limit.
The owner of the shop told gardaí he had to close for the day and consult a structural engineer.
Gda McElroy said that the cost of the shop’s repairs was around €30,000 in total.
Gda McElroy agreed with the defence barrister that the shop owner had been fully compensated by insurance.
Counsel for Fanning said his client had been sick in the run-up to these events and had taken brandy to settle his stomach. He said this was not working, and Fanning was on his way to the chemist for over-the-counter medicine when the accident occurred.
Counsel submitted that a ‘confluence of issues’ in his client’s life at this time had caused Fanning a lot of stress and had led to a ‘perfect storm’, culminating in this event.
He was three times over the limit