A man who was seen weaving a motorcycle between traffic at up to 200kph whilst drunk and disqualified after refusing to stop, will be jailed for six months and banned from holding a driver’s licence for 14 years on his return to the District Court next week (February 10 ), after a suspended sentence is dealt with in Longford next Tuesday.
In Athlone District Court this week (February 3 ), Garda Keith Harrison told the court how he was on patrol in Moate on the afternoon of July 19 when a motorbike being ridden by Darren Murray (30 ), of Cornamaddy, Athlone failed to stop when gestured to do so.
“He weaved in and out of traffic at speeds of up to 200kph and was apprehended when he ran out of petrol,” said Garda Harrison. When arrested and taken to Athlone Garda Station he returned an intoxiliser reading of 44 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.
It then transpired that, not only did Murray not have a licence, but was serving a two year disqualification handed down in Longford District Court on May 28 for dangerous driving. On that day he was also given one month in prison, but had it suspended for a year for a public order conviction.
After making his guilty pleas known, Murray’s 14 previous convictions were read to the court. These included assault, public order offences, dangerous driving and having no insurance.
Murray attended court from the Midland prison, as he was serving a five month sentence handed down in Tullamore District Court last month and had a projected release date of May 5 next.
Judge William Earley sentenced Murray to three months consecutive to his present term for the drink driving, and a further three consecutive months for the dangerous driving, and banned him from driving for 14 years.
Deciding Murray must face the hanging suspended sentence in Longford next Tuesday (February 9 ), Judge Earley adjourned imposing his sentence until next week (February 10 ) in Athlone District Court and remanded Murray back to appear then.
