Offaly drink-driver facing very long time off the road

AN Offaly drink-driver escaped an immediate jail sentence but had his driving ban doubled when his appeal against the severity of penalties previously imposed on him was heard on Wednesday.

Miroslav Sarko, 41, with an address at Hophill Grove, Tullamore, had been sentenced in the District Court to three months in prison and disqualified from driving for four years.

The Lithuanian native had been convicted of drink-driving on the Clara Road in Tullamore after being stopped at 12.50am.

A test showed him to have a concentration of 70 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath and Sergeant Richard Thornton told the appeal hearing at the Circuit Court the man had two previous convictions for drink-driving from 2010 and 2011.

One of those convictions resulted in him receiving a five-month suspended prison sentence and in 2012 he was jailed for three months for driving while disqualified.

The appeal hearing before Judge Keenan Johnson was also told Mr Sarko had been convicted of theft last year and received the Probation Act.

Defence counsel Suzanne Dooner, BL, told the court Mr Sarko was a father of two who had been in Ireland for 16 years and worked in road engineering.

His children were aged 12 and 11 and his partner was unable to work outside the home because of illness but would be in a position to drive Mr Sarko to work.

The appellant earned €550 per week but paid €650 in rent and was seeking mercy from the court.

Ms Dooner said the man should have known better than to drink and drive again but he had been out celebrating a change of jobs. He had brought €500 to court as a contribution to charity.

Judge Johnson said it was very hard for him to understand why Mr Sarko had committed a drink-driving offence again after being convicted before.

He said he could find no error in the three-month sentence imposed by the District Court and the message about drink-driving had to go out loud and clear from the court.

However, he added that incarcerating Mr Sarko would be catastrophic for his family so he suspended the prison sentence but increased it from three months to six months and increased the disqualification from four years to eight years.