Suspended sentence and disqualification imposed on Kildare man

A defendant was handed down a suspended custodial sentence in Naas District Court on Thursday, February 2.
Shane Kelly, of Ballysax, The Curragh, was found guilty of drink-driving on the Naas Road in Kilcullen at around 2.05am on September 10, 2017.

The arresting garda told presiding Judge Michéle Finan that she had reason to believe the 33-year-old was intoxicated at the time.

When she approached him, Mr Kelly took off at speed, before stopping just over 900 metres later.

When Mr Kelly was stopped and quizzed by the garda, he refused to provide a breath sample to her, and was arrested.

It was heard that he tried to run away from the garda and her patrol partner three times, but gave up after the third attempt.

The garda in question added that Mr Kelly was 'aggressive and very abusive' towards her.

After arriving at the garda station, Mr Kelly provided a blood sample to gardaí, which showed that he had been driving under the influence of alcohol.

Gardaí told Judge Finan that Mr Kelly has seven previous convictions, which included convictions for theft, possession of drugs and driving with no insurance.

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Solicitor Tim Kennelly, who was defending Mr Kelly, told Judge Finan that his client 'wished to apologise unconditionally and unreservedly' to the gardaí who stopped him on the night of the incident.

"My client is disgusted with himself, after hearing the details back," he added.

When Judge Finan called Mr Kelly to the stand, he apologised again to the garda who arrested him, and admitted that hearing the details made him 'feel sick.'

The judge said that she was bound to follow the provisions of the Road Traffic Act, and imposed two two-year driving disqualifications on Mr Kelly.

In addition, she imposed a three-month custodial sentence on him, to be suspended for two years.