160kmh on icy road earns two-year driving ban

“Young people think they can do anything without consequences but there are consequences,” warned Judge Denis McLoughlin at Cavan District Court when he fined and disqualified a 19-year-old youth for dangerous driving. The youth, Mervyn Graham, Corduff, Ballinagh, was charged with dangerous driving at Shannow, Ballinagh, on January 9 last. The court heard that the defendant was detected by gardaí driving at speeds of up to 160km per hour on his way home from collecting his sister and her friends at the bus in Cavan. Road conditions were icy at the time. Inspector Seamus Boyle informed the court that at 19.55pm on the date in question, gardaí observed a car travelling at Dublin road, Cavan, adjacent to Breffni Park. Weather conditions were poor and it was freezing hard. The car turned right at Tractamotors and headed out the Ballinagh road reaching a speed of 100km in a 60km zone. Defending solicitor, Breege Mimnagh submitted that her client was driving along a very straight road at the time. She stated that he was a third level agricultural student; that he came from a farming background and that his licence was extremely important to him. He was on his way home from collecting his sister in Cavan and he accepted that it was wrong for him to have driven at such a speed. In respect of the dangerous driving charge, Inspector Boyle then explained that Garda Hunt stopped the defendant in the townland of Shannow, Ballinagh, after detecting him driving at speeds of up to 160km on the road from Cavan to Ballinagh. There were a number of other vehicles using the road; conditions were icy and weather conditions were extremely poor. The defendant wouldn’t have been aware that the gardaí were behind him at the time, stated the inspector. Describing the defendant as very apologetic for his behaviour, Ms. Mimnagh said that his parents made him get rid of the car in question. They were present in court for the case. In evidence Mervyn Graham stated that he was a student at Ballyhaise college. His father was a full-time farmer and he helped out on the farm on an ongoing basis. Witness accepted that his speed on the occasion was excessive. He was after collecting his sister and her friends from the bus and he acknowledged that he put them in great danger by driving at such a speed. He undertook to abide by the rules of the road and drive with care in future. Inspector Boyle asked the defendant if he recognised that his reckless driving could have caused the deaths of four young people in the car on the occasion. Witness replied that he did. Judge Denis McLoughlin said that the defendant was aged 18 at the time and was driving at an extremely excessive speed on a road, which was extremely dangerous. “Young people these days think they can do anything without consequences but there are consequences. The consequences here are that I find him guilty of dangerous driving and I am fining him €300. In that regard I am taking his own personal circumstances into account. I am also disqualifying him from driving for two years,” said the judge. At Ms. Mimnagh’s request, the judge fixed recognisances in the event of appeal.