Drug driver overtaking erratically in Longford hit with €1000 fine and road ban

A man who pleaded guilty to dangerous driving while on drugs was fined €1,000 and banned from the road for two years.

Joseph Granaghan (27) of Glencullen Upper, Bangor Erris, Mayo was before the court on three motoring offences stemming from an incident on December 28, 2022.

Mr Granaghan was charged with driving with a quantity of drugs, cannabis, in his system, dangerous driving at Shroid, Longford and dangerous driving at Tinnynarr, Edgeworthstown.

A further charge of public intoxication at Ballinalee Road, Longford was struck out by the presiding judge, Bernadette Owens.

Sergeant Mark Mahon told the court that at 5:45pm on the date Mr Granaghan pulled up behind a motorist on the approach to the roundabout at Tinnynarr, Edgeworthstown.

The vehicle overtook them in a dangerous manner. The driver of the passed car followed Mr Granaghan and recorded the manner of driving on her dashboard camera.

The driver called Longford Garda station and informed them of the erratic behaviour of the car who had passed her.

As the defendant entered the roundabout on the approach to Longford town he again took the wrong lane.

The officers who responded to the call stopped and arrested Mr Granaghan. The arresting Gardaí believed the driver was intoxicated and a subsequent blood test returned a reading of 17.ng and 2.2ng of cannabis.

Solicitor Anthony Feeney said his client had entered a plea of guilty to the charges. Mr Feeney acknowledged that the defendant had five previous and four of them were for road traffic offences.

The solicitor said that four of those convictions were from a single incident in 2015 when his client was 18 years of age.

Mr Feeney said the defendant had been taking prescribed Zopiclone and this drug affected his driving. He said the cannabis in Mr Granaghan's system was from the previous night.

Mr Feeney said his client is not currently working, but has worked in construction in the past. He said Mr Granaghan plans to take up a job offer in Iceland.

The solicitor said the defendant accepted he had issues with his driving and has undertaken a Pro-Social Driving course.

Noting the facts and the mitigation put before the court Judge Bernadette Owens described the case as “a serious case of dangerous driving”.

The judge registered a conviction and imosed a fine of €500 with six month to pay for the drug driving with a one year driving ban, and a fine of €500 with seven months to pay for the first dangerous driving charge with a two year driving ban.

The second dangerous driving charge was taken into consideration.