Portlaoise Court: Drug-driver put off the road for ten years
Portloaise Courthouse
A MAN who provided gardaí with a blood sample after he was stopped on suspicion of drug-driving was found to be four times over the drug-driving limit.
On 15 May last year while gardaí were conducting a checkpoint on the M7 at Cappakeel, they observed a car exiting the motorway and avoiding the checkpoint. When they followed and stopped the car, they detected a strong smell of cannabis from the vehicle while speaking to the driver. They also found a small amount of cannabis in the car. The driver tested positive for cannabis at a roadside test. The car was then seized and the driver was taken to Portlaoise Garda Station, where he provided a blood sample. Subsequent results showed that he was four times over the drug-driving limit.
Arising from the incident, Dean Murphy, 5 Kiltalown View, Tallaght, Dublin 24 pleaded guilty to drug-driving and possessing drugs for his own use on 15 May last year, when he came before Portlaoise District Court.
Prosecuting garda Ross Foy said that Mr Murphy had 54 previous convictions, which included nine for driving without insurance. He said the defendant “hadn’t been in trouble since 2012, but his most recent court appearance was on 9 March 2023, when he was successful in getting a 30-year driving disqualification reduced to 11 years”.
Judge Andrew Cody convicted Mr Murphy of the offences, fined him €1,000 and disqualified him from driving for ten years.
