A man who drove home from a funeral because he was less drunk than the owner of the car, has been disqualified for two years for drink driving and convicted of having no insurance.
Mullingar District Court heard €13,000 damage was done to an old stone wall, shrubbery, and trees which Kenneth O’Connor of Cornamucklagh, Moyvore drove into at Glascorn on June 25 last year.
The court heard O’Connor had been socialising after a funeral and wanted to get home, and made the error of driving his cousin’s car, thinking there was open insurance on it.
His cousin thought O’Connor had less to drink but when he was breathalysed he had 60mg alcohol/100ml breath.
Gardaí were called to the scene of the accident at 2am on the road between Mullingar and Ballymahon after O’Connor collided with a cattle lorry.
The accident caused extensive damage to a nearby wall and the judge said this must be paid for.
He said no citizen of this country would tolerate the cost or the damage done by a lorry that had to take evasive action in the face of a drunken, uninsured driver.
The case will come before the judge again on June 6 when the owner of the wall is to appear in court and O’Connor is to have concrete proposals for how he will pay for the damage, even though he is not working and has no assets.
“You can pay something every week,” concluded the judge who fined O’Connor €250 and deferred the disqualification until October 1.
