Dublin motorist drove wrong way on M1 slip road – ‘I could never get insurance, I was always banned’
The Drogheda Independent“I could never get insurance, I was always banned,” a man with 113 previous convictions has told Dundalk Circuit Court.
Dónal Dunne (61) was speaking during an appeal against severity of a sentence he received in the district court for an offence committed while he was disqualified when he drove in the wrong direction on a motorway slip road.
The defendant, with an address in Clondalkin, Dublin, was sentenced to four months imprisonment and disqualified for 4 years for no insurance and fined €300 on a reduced charge of careless driving following an incident which occurred outside Drogheda on September 23, 2018.
A garda testified that at 11.50pm he was travelling northbound on the road parallel to the M1 at Platin Terrace near the smaller toll bridge when the car in front of him had to take action to avoid Mr Dunne who was in their lane.
The officer stopped the appellant. A roadside test proved negative. The car had no tax displayed and was seized.
The driver failed to produce documents.
The court heard of 113 previous convictions, most for Road Traffic offences including drink driving.
He was serving a 15-year disqualification at the time.
Mr Dunne said that he had served time in custody. The longest (term) was 12 months “for tax and insurance”.
“I could never get insurance, I was always banned,” he continued.
Solicitor Conor MacGuill said that a report previously ordered by the appeal court in respect of this matter found his client unsuitable for community service on medical grounds.
Judge Sarah Berkeley asked was he still smoking and the appellant replied that he wasn’t.
He had to give up work and was on disability.
“Being put in prison didn’t stop him driving,” the judge remarked. “How do we stop him?”
He continued that he lived in a caravan in the front garden of a house he used to live in in Clondalkin. When he came home one day the caravan was on the road.
Judge Berkeley said that driving the wrong way on a slip road on the motorway was “no doubt” dangerous driving. She convicted Mr Dunne of dangerous driving.
The court suspended the four-month no insurance sentence for 2 years.
“I hope you are not going to drive again,” the judge concluded.
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