Amount of drink-driving 'mind boggling', says judge as Cork woman is convicted twice
When gardaí stopped a vehicle on June 12, 2023, the driver Sheila Browne failed a breath test and was also found to be driving without insurance.
The frequency of drink-driving behaviour is “mind boggling” and offenders seem to think “there is no consequence”, according to a district court judge.
Judge Colm Roberts made the comments when dealing with the case of a Cork woman who was caught drink-driving twice and on one occasion crashed her vehicle into a wall.
Sgt Linda O’Leary told Fermoy District Court that on June 12, 2023, a member of the public contacted gardaí about a car that was driving erratically on the N72 road near Fermoy in Co. Cork. The car was observed veering across the road and driving close to the ditch on the opposite side for almost 300m.
When gardaí stopped the vehicle, the driver Sheila Browne, 50, of Ballymacmoy, Killavullen, Co. Cork, failed a breath test and was also found to be driving without insurance.
Sgt O’Leary said that on August 18, 2023, gardaí attended the scene where a car had hit a wall in Kildorrery, Co. Cork. The driver of the vehicle was Sheila Browne who was on bail from the previous incident in June.
When questioned she was observed to have slurred speech and her eyes were glassy and she was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving. She was later found to be over the legal limit and driving without insurance or a licence.
Defence solicitor Matthew Bermingham told the court that Ms Browne had three children, one 16-year-old and two adults and “went off the rails” at the time of the incidents due to a family bereavement.
He said that she would be moving to Mallow from Killavullen in the near future where she would avail of support services for her alcohol problems and depression. Mr Bermingham said that she was a mature woman who was “just not coping” at the time of the incidents.
The court also heard that Ms Browne had failed to appear in court on two previous occasions. Mr Bermingham said that she “just didn’t appreciate the seriousness of the situation”. The court was told that Ms Browne had no previous convictions.
Judge Roberts said: “If people like your client are sent to prison for this sort of behaviour perhaps people will take notice. The thing about mental health issues is that you have to manage them and defence lawyers seem to think they can just blame everything on addiction and drugs.
“I see a car as a legal weapon and someone getting into a car drunk is committing a serious offence. She also had two bench warrants as well. If people don’t respect or fear the law they become outlaws. She has not given a proper explanation and I wonder, if she was a man would I be sending her to prison.
"I hope that I am fair in that way and I have to say to her that she is very close to receiving a custodial sentence.”
For the incident in June, Ms Browne was disqualified from driving for three years and fined €250 for drink-driving. She was disqualified for two years and fined €200 for dangerous driving and for driving without insurance she was disqualified for two years and fined €450.
The judge said that the incident in August was aggravated by the fact that she was on bail at the time. For drink-driving she was disqualified for six years and given a three-month suspended prison sentence.
For the no insurance offence she was disqualified for four years, and given a three-month suspended prison sentence and for dangerous driving she was disqualified for four years and and given a two-month suspended prison sentence, her driving without a licence was taken into consideration.
For failing to appear in court she was fined €200 and given a three-month suspended sentence. All the sentences will run consecutively.
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