Sentence and 10-year driving disqualification imposed on North Kildare man for three offences
CONVICTED
A Celbridge man was convicted at Naas District Court on Thursday, October 19 last for three separate incidents committed in County Kildare.
Piotr Stawera, with an address listed as 108A Beatty Park in Celbridge, but who is currently remanded in custody on other matters, appeared before Judge Desmond Zaidan on the date in question via video-link.
The court was told by gardaí that on December 10, 2021, the 48-year-old was caught driving while under the influence of alcohol at Doctor's Lane in Maynooth.
He was also found to have had no insurance on his vehicle or a driving licence at the time of this offence.
Then, on May 30, 2022, Mr Stawera was caught driving without a licence or insurance at Whitechurch in Straffan.
Lastly, gardaí told Judge Zaidan that on June 21 last, he failed to appear to court when legally required to do so.
It was heard that the three offences were committed while he was disqualified from driving at the time.
The court was told that Mr Stawera has 53 previous convictions, 49 of which are for road traffic offences.
Of these offences, seven are for driving with no insurance, five are for driving without a valid licence, two are for drink-driving.
The man's barrister told the judge: "He has an appalling record, there's no doubt about that; I'd just ask the court to be as lenient as possible."
Gardaí told Judge Zaidan that Mr Stawera was due for release on a date in 2025.
After consideration, the judge remarked that Mr Stawera had 'horrendous' previous convictions and decided to convict him for the offences.
He imposed a total of 16-months in custody on Mr Stawera: five months for the no insurance offence in Maynooth, three months for the no licence offence in Maynooth, five months for the second no insurance offence in Straffan, and three months for the no licence offence in Straffan.
The judge also imposed a 10-year driving disqualification on Mr Stawera for the no insurance offence committed in Straffan, in addition to a two-year driving ban for the drink-driving offence, which will run concurrently with the 10-year ban.
He set appeal at €500 for Mr Stawera.