A drink driver who was found trying to pull out of a filling station with no lights and the handbrake on while disqualified will now spend four months in jail before being deported.
South African national Fezeka Yabo, who is currently on a deportation list, appeared before Galway District Court last Monday. The 36-year-old with an address at 28 Rahylin Glebe, Ballybane was charged with drink driving, driving without insurance and no driving licence at Main Street, Oranmore, on December 18, 2008.
Inspector Ernie White told the court that at 9.40pm gardai received two complaints from the public that a car was causing an obstruction at Texaco filling station. When gardai arrived they found the defendant trying to drive her car out of the forecourt with no lights and with the handbrake on. They also found cans of alcohol in the car. Yabo gave an alcohol reading of 57mg per 100mls of breath.
The court then heard how Yabo had been convicted on November 12, 2008, for refusing to give a breath sample and received a five month sentence suspended for five months and an eight-year disqualification. She also received a disqualification on the same date for another count of refusing to give a sample.
A Garda Immigration officer said that defendant is currently on a deportation list and that the Department of Justice have accepted that she is willing to leave the country.
Judge Mary Fahy advised that it is up to the state to follow up on the deportation issue. She convicted and sentenced the defendant to a total of four months in jail, endorsed the driving licence, and disqualified her from driving for 10 years.
