The Court of Appeal has reduced Anthony Doody’s 30-year driving disqualification to eight years, finding an error in how the original ban was set. The appeal concerned only the duration of the disqualification, the court said.
The 30-year order was imposed by the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court during sentencing on 15 March 2011. Doody had pleaded guilty to an offence under section 112 of the Road Traffic Act relating to the unauthorised taking and use of a motorcycle. He received a two-year prison sentence, suspended on terms, and was disqualified from holding a driver’s licence for 30 years.
The underlying offence occurred on 4 May 2009. The judgment says Doody was detected driving a motorcycle that had been taken earlier, in a dangerous manner. The court described the offence as serious and noted that he had previous convictions.
During the Circuit Court hearing, the judge initially referred to a 15-year disqualification and said he would impose a ban of that length from that date. Prosecution counsel then told the judge that Doody had in fact been disqualified for 30 years in an order made on 31 March 2009. The Circuit Court judge imposed a further 30-year disqualification, commenting that it was longer than the kind of ban the offence would attract.
The Court of Appeal said the Circuit Court’s error was to use the same period as earlier disqualifications without fully considering what was appropriate for Doody in light of the conduct before it. It concluded that this amounted to an error and that it could reconsider the disqualification afresh.
The judgment records that Doody had not been before the courts since the Circuit Court hearing, had acquired family and domestic responsibilities, and had maintained a solid work record, including employment in the construction sector. It also says the other disqualification orders had been removed or varied, leaving the Circuit Court order as the only one then preventing him from driving.
The Court of Appeal quashed the 30-year order and substituted a disqualification of eight years. The judgment does not alter the suspended prison sentence; the appeal was confined to the driving ban.