A MAN who drove away from gardaí at high speed was convicted of dangerous driving at a recent sitting of Bandon District Court. Prosecuting Sergeant Tom Mulcahy told the court that on November 23rd at around 9 pm gardaí observed a white Citroen car driving on the wrong side of the road near Ballinspittle.
The car was pulled over but when a garda approached the vehicle it took off at high speed. Gardaí chased the car which drove through a junction without stopping until eventually it pulled up outside a property at 3 Spittlefield in Ballinspittle. The driver of the car, 47-year-old Polish man Pavel Jaworski, was then arrested.
Defence solicitor Plunkett Taaffe said that his client was from Poland and working in Ireland for a Polish company and had been in the country less than a year.
He said that the car in question was rented by a housemate of Mr Jaworski’s.
He said that his client had taken the keys for the car and taken it for a drive without asking his housemate.
Mr Taaffe said that in Poland it is the car that is insured and not the driver, so what Mr Jaworski did would not be out of the ordinary.
However, when he was stopped by the gardaí he panicked and drove off.
‘It was his intention to get back to the house where his friend could help him explain the situation as he does not have good English,’ said Mr Taaffe. ‘He didn’t seek permission, he made an assumption and it was a mistake.’
The court heard that Mr Jaworski had no previous convictions and his friend who had rented the car also supported him and was providing translation in court.
Judge Philip O’Leary convicted Mr Jaworski of dangerous driving, taking a vehicle without permission and driving without insurance. He took into account that he was driving without a licence. He was banned from driving for three years and received a total of €500 in fines for the offences.
