Cork paramedic addicted to Oxycontin appeals drug-driving prison sentence

Martina O’Sullivan was seen driving on to the wrong side of a road and otherwise driving erratically

The barrister said the former ambulance driver was prescribed Oxycontin at a hospital in Northern Ireland following an injury she sustained in the course of her work five years ago. File photo: AP/Toby Talbot

An advanced paramedic who became addicted to the painkilling drug Oxycontin has appealed against a five-month jail term for repeatedly driving under the influence of cocaine and having no insurance.

Alison McCarthy, barrister, asked Judge Helen Boyle at Cork Circuit Appeals Court to direct some kind of help for Martina O’Sullivan rather than a jail term.