Judge Mary Devins asked a man who pleaded guilty to drink driving for the third time why she should not send him to prison. She also said that if people are to take the law seriously it’s up to the judiciary to impose sentencing, “as fines and disqualifications didn’t teach you a lesson before”.
She was commenting on the case of Thomas Joyce of Clogher, Hollymount, who pleaded guilty in court to drink driving. Garda Colin Murrin told the court that on September 18 2008 he was on patrol in the Garda car at 3.55am when he came across Joyce’s car parked across the road at Clareen, Hollymount. He saw Joyce trying to get into the car and went and spoke to him. He said there was a strong smell of alcohol from Joyce. He was unsteady on his feet and the keys were in the ignition of the car. Garda Murrin arrested Joyce and brought him to Claremorris Garda station where he gave a blood sample which returned a reading of 231mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. He also told the court that Joyce had previous convictions for drink driving in 1989 and 1996.
Joyce, a single farmer who lives at his family home with his elderly mother, pleaded guilty to the charges in court. He said he was his mother’s only source of transport and told the court that if he was sentenced to prison she would have no one to look after her. Judge Devins convicted and fined Joyce €750 and sentenced him to three months in prison suspended for a year, and disqualified him from driving for three years.
