A 47-year-old father of three, who was observed by gardaí completing a u-turn in the middle of the road while drunk, was disqualified from driving at a special sitting of Ballina District Court this week.
Garda Rebecca Fearon outlined that on Tuesday March 10 2009 at 8.12am, gardaí received a report from an off duty member of the force in relation to the manner of driving of a person in a green Opel Almera.
Garda Fearon observed the car at Aaran Place, Ballina — which was driven by Seamus McNulty, 35 Ridge Pool Village, Ballina — complete a U-turn in the middle of the road. According to the garda the car nearly collided with an oncoming vehicle.
McNulty was stopped and Garda Fearon noticed a strong smell of alcohol coming from the defendant’s breath. When McNulty was asked to step out of the car he fell. The concentration of alcohol in a blood sample later given showed 215mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.
Judge Patrick Clyne convicted and fined McNulty, who has no previous convictions, €250 for drink driving and disqualified him from driving for three years. For dangerous driving the defendant was disqualified for two years to run concurrently.
