Driver gets year in jail for 201kph on M9 at Kildare court
Photo for illustrative purposes only.
A MAN who overtook a patrol car at over 200kph with five passengers was jailed for 12 months this week.
Toader Hotca Florea (49) with an address at Montpelier Hill, Dublin 7 appeared at Athy District Court to plead guilty to two charges – dangerous driving and refusing to give a specimen.
Sergeant Dave Hanrahan for the prosecution told the court how a Garda Barry was on patrol in an unmarked patrol car on the M9 motorway in Crookstown on 16 December “when she was overtaken by the defendant”.
“Judge, he was clocked at 201kph with five passengers in the car,” said the sergeant.
“He subsequently failed a roadside breath test.
“He has no previous convictions”.
“I’ve nothing to say,” shrugged defending solicitor Jacqui McManus.
“Garda Barry didn’t catch up?” asked Judge Desmond Zaidan.
“She did, judge,” Sgt Hanrahan assured him.
“See, I have the scales of justice,” said the judge.
“On one side is your car, and on the other side your life,” he said.
“It is really madness, you could’ve been paralysed from the neck down, that’s the reality of when speed goes wrong.
“By the time you come before me, I’m seeing the third or fourth version (of the story).
“You had intoxicants in your system, and you were trying out a new car?
“Well, tonight, you’ll be trying out a new bed in the Midland Prison.
“We are losing more people from bad driving than from assault.
“A lot of people survive, but have life-changing injuries,” said the judge.
He sentenced Florea to six months imprisonment for the dangerous driving, and a consecutive six months for the breath sample refusal.
He also banned him for six years, and set his appeal bond at €1,000.
