Portlaoise Court: Open whiskey bottle found on car floor after collision with lorry
Portlaoise Courthouse
A GARDA who attended a collision between a car and an articulated lorry found an open bottle of Powers Whiskey on the floor the car.
That was the evidence given when Wiktor Nowak, 19 Roseberry Hill, Newbridge pleaded guilty at last week’s sitting of Portlaoise District Court to drink driving, driving without insurance, dangerous driving and driving without a licence on the M7 motorway at Fatharnagh, Mountrath on 26 August.
Garda McInerney told the court that on the day in question he responded to a report of a car that had been in collision with an articulated lorry. When he arrived at the scene, he found an open bottle of Powers Whiskey on the floor of Mr Nowak's car.
When arrested, a blood sample of the 31-year-old defendant returned a reading of 126 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.
Defending solicitor Barry Fitzgerald said that Mr Nowak, who works as an electrician, was having extreme difficulties with alcohol at the time of the incident.
Judge Andrew Cody convicted Mr Nowak of driving while uninsured and of dangerous driving, fined him €100 and dis-qualified him from driving for two years on each summons.
The defendant was also disqualified from driving for six years and fined €100 for the drink driving summons, while the summons for driving without a licence was taken into consideration.
