Louth drink driver ‘panicked’ when failing to stop at Garda checkpoint

By Francis Carroll, The Drogheda Independent

A 36-year-old man who drove through a Garda checkpoint after being signalled to stop has been fined and disqualified.

Liam Tumulty, Castle Park, Castletown Road, Dundalk, pleaded guilty to drink driving and to two counts of dangerous driving following an incident earlier this year.

It was stated on behalf of the defendant, who has no previous convictions, that he panicked. He co-operated with gardaí when stopped some distance away.

Court presenter Sgt Ronan Loftus said that at 7.20pm on July 16 last a car approached at speed a routine checkpoint at Linenhall Street.

A garda raised his hand for this vehicle to stop. It went through the checkpoint forcing the officer to “step away”.

The evidence continued that Mr Tumulty was travelling at 80kmh in a 50kmh zone at The Laurels. He took a corner on Culhane Street on the wrong side of the road.

When the car stopped, gardaí saw that there were cans of beer inside.

A subsequent analysis showed an over the limit reading of 78mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

Solicitor Ciarán Hughes said that his client, a father of three, panicked. He realised the errors of his way “relatively quickly” and co-operated. He made a mistake.

For drink driving at Linenhall Street a €150 fine and three-year disqualification were imposed.

Charges of dangerous driving at Linenhall Street and The Laurels were taken into consideration.

Judge Nicola Andrews remarked that she wouldn’t normally adopt such leniency “in the teeth of the facts” but noted the manner in which Mr Tumulty dealt with the case.