A DISTRICT court judge told a Clonakilty man he convicted of drink driving that ‘hitting the bottle’ isn’t the way to deal with stress.
Judge James McNulty made the comment at Clonakilty District Court when dealing with the case of Timothy O’Regan.
Mr O’Regan (36) of Lakeside House, Gullane, Clonakilty pleaded guilty to drink driving last Christmas. Sgt Tom Mulcahy told the court that at 9.10pm on December 29th last gardaí observed the defendant’s BMW driving on the N71 towards Bandon.
‘The car was swerving and braking unnecessarily. They stopped the car and when speaking to the defendant they got a strong smell of alcohol from his breath. His speech was slurred and he was incoherent,’ said Sgt Mulcahy. ‘The gardaí arrested him and he was conveyed to Bandon Garda Station where a breath specimen gave a reading of 89mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.’ Judge McNulty described the reading as ‘extremely high’, while he was told the defendant has no previous convictions.
Defence solicitor Conrad Murphy said his client, who is a father to three, developed alcohol issues four to five years ago and had anxiety issues. He said his client works as a finance manager and is now doing well and his work involves travelling to Cork city.
‘He hasn’t had a drink since and has gone for treatment, ’ said Mr Murphy.
Judge McNulty said the issue is about driving while intoxicated and putting other citizens at risk and the ‘social irresponsibility’ of this.
‘It’s all terribly sad and he’s long enough around to know how to deal with stress and hitting the bottle isn’t the way to do it,’ said the judge.
Judge McNulty disqualified him from driving for three years from May 1st and convicted and fined him €500.
