Rachel Breen fined €5,000 for dangerous driving

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Rachel Breen was fined €5,000 by Judge Desmond Hogan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court and disqualified from driving for four years. She was given four months to pay. Breen pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to a then two-year-old boy. The offence occurred at Naul Road, Balbriggan, on 6 October 2012, leaving the child with permanent facial scars. The proceedings were reported on 18 December 2014.

The judge said he would not impose a custodial sentence because aggravating factors such as speed and intoxication were absent. He considered the fine appropriate because the driving ban would affect Breen’s working life. He also noted that she was fully insured and all injured parties had been compensated.

Breen claimed she had not seen the approaching junction. Gardaí agreed that the secondary road was poorly marked and badly surfaced. Garda Cliona Mulligan accepted that Breen had been travelling below the 80kph speed limit and was found administering first aid to the toddler. She agreed with John Aylmer SC, defending, that Breen was a fit and competent driver, and accepted that Breen might have seen the road signs had they been improved.