Man caught doing 'donuts' in Louth convicted of dangerous driving
Shane Sharkey (23) of Clooneevan, Haggardstown, Dundalk was convicted of dangerous driving on the Clermont Road, Haggardstown on February 25th 2024
A man who was stopped by a member of the Garda Armed Support Unit who had seen him perform a number of 'donuts' on the R132, failed to provide a roadside breath-test to a uniformed garda who was called to the scene, a contested hearing at Dundalk district court heard last week.
Shane Sharkey (23) of Clooneevan, Haggardstown, Dundalk was convicted of dangerous driving on the Clermont Road, Haggardstown on February 25th 2024 but had a number of other road traffic summonses dismissed.
A member of the ASU gave evidence that he was the driver of the official vehicle and was travelling from Castlebellingham towards Dundalk, when he saw a grey BMW 3 series doing a number of 'donuts' causing other road users to stop around 12.40am.
He said that as they approached the driver turned left onto the Clermont Road and they activated the blue lights and siren on the patrol vehicle.
He said the defendant travelled a short distance before pulling into the right hand side.
The witness said Mr Sharkey's speech was slurred, there was a strong smell of alcohol from him as he approached, and he had explained to a uniformed garda who arrived at the scene that he had observed the defendant driving in a dangerous manner and forcing other vehicles to stop.
He failed to provide a specimen for a roadside breath test. The witness confirmed to the Defence barrister that Mr Sharkey was "no difficulty at all".
The uniformed garda who attended the scene gave evidence of speaking to the defendant and establishing that he was a specified driver as he was a learner permit holder before he made the demand that he provide a breath specimen into the roadside apparatus.
The investigating garda said "no genuine attempt to provide a sample" was made and the defendant was arrested and taken to Dundalk Garda Station where he gave a breath specimen with a reading that was just over eight times the limit for a specified driving.
The court also heard that a demand was made to provide his insurance documents and they were not produced.
The Defence barrister successfully argued that the court had heard evidence that the investigating garda had witnessed print out of the reading being witnessed in the wrong order.
Judge Nicola Andrews dismissed summonses for the drink driving, failing to comply with a requirement to provide breath, driving without insurance, being an unaccompanied learner driver and failure to produce insurance.
However, she convicted Mr Sharkey of dangerous driving and said she would refer him to the Probation Service in relation to a community service order.
It was confirmed he had no previous convictions.
The Defence barrister stressed that his client has not come to adverse attention since the incident and added that the Christmas beforehand Mr Sharkey's partner had lost a pregnancy through miscarriage and he had acted recklessly for a period afterwards.
Judge Andrews said his driving on the night could have led to a loss of life and she had no doubt he had behaved recklessly and "there was a degree of intoxication involved".
After the court heard Mr Sharkey is currently working in Finland every couple of weeks and has been flying home for his court dates, the case was put back for a 'same day' assessment by the Probation Service.
The judge subsequently imposed at €2,000 fine along with 60 hours community service in lieu of a two month sentence and disqualified him from driving for two years.