Woman in her 60s given six year ban for drink driving in Offaly

Gardai who saw a car swerving on the road in Offaly stopped it and found that the driver's speech was slurred.

Fiona Maddigan (63), Slade Castle View, Moneyatta Commons, Saggart, Dublin, pleaded guilty to drink-driving, uninsured driving and driving without a licence at Urney, Cloneygowan on March 10 last.

When Ms Maddigan appeared at Tullamore District Court Judge Andrew Cody strongly urged her to get legal advice but the woman declined.

Garda Gillian McEllin said a 2024 Toyota Yaris was seen swerving on the road and going on continuous white lines.

When the driver was stopped it was noticed that her speech was slurred and there was a strong smell of alcohol.

Analysis of a sample of her blood showed her to have a concentration of 179 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

The court was told Ms Maddigan had previous convictions for drink-driving, dangerous driving, and failing or refusing to provide a sample. She was a disqualified driver at the time of the Geashill offence.

Judge Cody told Ms Maddigan: “You shouldn't have been driving at all, you're still disqualified and you're facing a six-year disqualification.”

He imposed a six-year ban for drink-driving, a two-year ban for having no motor insurance and a €250 fine for having no licence.

Fines of €700 each were also imposed for the excess alcohol and motor insurance offences.