Ballinakill publican given jail for two drink driving crimes

A Ballinakill publican caught drink driving twice within two weeks has been sentenced to six months in jail and disqualified from driving for eight years.

Before Portlaoise District Court was Paul Hayes (33), Ballinakill.

Sgt JJ Kirby gave evidence that on June 6 this year, the accused was detected driving in Durrow with 255mg of alcohol per 100ml of urine.

Then on June 21, the accused was detected driving in Ballinakill with 42mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

On both occasions, he had no licence or insurance.

The accused had ten previous convictions, all road traffic matters.

Sgt Kirby said the accused had previous for drink driving, with a six-year disqualification imposed in 2017 for failing to provide a specimen.

Judge Catherine Staines remarked that the accused had previous convictions for drink driving and now he had twice driven drunk with no insurance.

Defence, Mr Barry Fitzgerald said that the accused had an issue with alcohol, with alcohol underpinning all his criminal behaviour.

“He is not an everyday drinker, but when he drinks he binge drinks. Beneath that he’s a thoroughly decent man and just needs help,” said Mr Fitzgerald.

Mr Fitzgerald went on to say that the accused needed to deal with his alcohol addiction as he posed a danger to the public.

“He needs to deal with his issues otherwise something more serious could happen,” said Mr Fitzgerald, asking the court to leave the accused with “light at the end of the tunnel”.

Judge Catherine Staines imposed a six month prison sentence on one of the drink driving charges and imposed a number of driving disqualifications of eight years, to run concurrent.

Recognisance was fixed in the event of an appeal.