Uninsured Louth driver given 14-month sentence for crash which seriously injured his two passengers
The Drogheda IndependentA 20-year-old man who drove at up to 150kmh on country roads said to his frightened passengers that he had only crashed once, and “is that not reassurance I won’t crash again?” before he lost control and collided with a fence and hedge, Dundalk Circuit Court has heard.
Only 18 days before the early morning collision, Deniss Poddubnijs, Laburnum Drive, Termon Abbey, Drogheda, had been convicted of having neither insurance nor driving licence.
He was sentenced to 14 months imprisonment after pleading guilty to careless driving causing serious bodily harm to two people at Sheetland Road, Termonfeckin, Drogheda, on April 12, 2024.
He also admitted uninsured driving, while a third charge of being an unaccompanied driver was taken into consideration.
Mr Poddubnijs was aged 18 at the time and his two passengers, 16.
The victims were then boyfriend and girlfriend. The female’s injuries included a lacerated spleen, broken finger and ribs, and bowel damage. She is left scarred.
The male had a broken right leg and ankle. He continues to walk with a limp.
The girl said to investigators that she thought she and her boyfriend were dead.
Judge Dara Hayes told the defendant, who suffered a broken hand, that he should simply not have been driving that night.
Gda Jake Sexton gave evidence that Mr Poddubnijs asked the boy about going for a spin. He picked the couple up. The girl didn’t know the accused.
She got into the back of a Nissan Almera. There was no plug for her safety belt.
They were travelling towards Termonfeckin. Loud music was being played. The defendant’s driving was “erratic and very fast”.
In a carpark at Clogherhead he was doing donuts.
The female, who was in court, heard him say, “I only crashed once. Is that not reassurance I won’t crash again.”
They went back towards Termonfeckin. He was talking about how he could get it up to 160kmh. The girl remembered that he was driving faster and faster.
On Sheetland Road, 1.8km from the village, he was doing 150kmh at one point.
She heard him say, “Oh, shit”. There was a big bang.
The female passenger subsequently told gardaí that she was flung. She couldn’t see anything. She believed she was dead.
She could smell smoke in the car. The accused opened the door and told her to get out.
The young lady believed that her boyfriend, a front seat passenger, was dead. The defendant was trying to wake him up.
That young man recalled that Mr Poddubnijs was laughing during the journey. His girlfriend was scared.
He took a picture of the speedometer on the journey back from the donuts. It was “around 150kmh”.
Gda Sexton said that he was called to the scene of a single vehicle collision at 2.53am, a road governed by an 80kmh speed limit.
Passengers were being treated by paramedics.
He spoke to the defendant. He had a provisional licence. He passed a roadside test.
The injured people were brought by ambulance to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.
In a Victim Impact Statement, the young lady said that she had been in the most excruciating pain and felt like a “crushed bug”.
“I thought I was dead. I couldn’t even scream.”
Her spleen had to be removed. She will be on medication twice a day for the rest of her life.
She had to rethink her career path. The scarring makes her feel ugly.
“A part of me did die. I don’t know if I will ever recover physically.”
Gda Sexton said that the accused claimed that he was driving normally, around 80kmh, when he lost control on a small bend.
It could not be ascertained what speed the car was travelling at at the time of impact. No PSV examination of the vehicle took place.
On March 25, 2024, the defendant was convicted in the district court of uninsured driving, driving with a licence and failing to produce an NCT cert. No disqualification was imposed.
The court heard that Dennis Poddubnijs is a native of Latvia. He lives with his mother. They arrived in Ireland when he was aged 4.
His father lives in Latvia. His mother is in a long-term relationship with another man.
He takes the bus to work in Nando’s, Swords, where he earns €240 per week.
His counsel said that he should not have been in the car which he owned in the first place.
He was deeply troubled by the impact on his former friend and that friend’s former girlfriend and had written letters of apology to both.
His injuries paled into insignificance compared to theirs.
There was never any suggestion that he was going to contest the charges. He had not come to adverse attention since.
He had paid €1,050 administration fees for MIBI and Injuries Resolution Board proceedings.
Reviewing the evidence, Judge Dara Hayes said that the impact of what occurred continues for the victims.
A scarred torso is more serious for a young woman. She cannot wear the clothes she wants to.
She had wanted to be a doctor but has had to give that up.
Her companion on this occasion is still limping.
That the accused continued to drive 18 days after his district court convictions was a serious aggravating factor.
“It should have been a wakeup call, it wasn’t,” Judge Hayes continued.
He was uninsured and unqualified at the time of this incident.
The court noted that for careless driving of this nature the maximum sentence is two years.
A 14-month sentence was imposed, concurrent to three months for uninsured driving. Mr Poddubnijs was also disqualified from driving for five years.
The judge said there was no evidential basis to suspend any portion of the sentence.