Portlaoise Court: Prison officer put off the road for three years
Portlaoise Courthouse
A PRISON officer was put off the road for three years when he was convicted of drink-driving at Portlaoise District Court.
David Hyland, Rossvale, Portlaoise pleaded not guilty to the offence, which took place at Clonreher, Portlaoise on 28 October last.
Sergeant Mick O’Connell said that while he was manning a Mandatory Intoxicant Testing checkpoint, he stopped a van and asked the driver to take a roadside breath test, which he failed.
While being arrested to be taken to Portlaoise Garda Station for an evidenzer test, Sgt O’Connell said that when Mr Hyland was charged, he replied: “We are all prison officers.”
The test at the garda station returned a reading of 78mg/100ml breath.
The court was told that Mr Hyland had no previous convictions.
Defending barrister David Staunton said that if his 40-year-old client is convicted, it “would have an impact on his employment”.
Judge Susan Fay convicted the defendant of the offence, disqualified him from driving for three years and imposed a €500 fine.
She also fixed recognisances in the event of an appeal.
