Carlow motorist who refused to take a breath test banned from driving for four years
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A 56-YEAR-OLD man who was observed swerving while driving through Carlow town on New Year’s Day and subsequently refused to provide breath specimens has been disqualified from driving for four years. John Molloy, Garryhill, Bagenalstown, Carlow was before Carlow District Court charged with drink driving and having no vehicle tax but was not present for the hearing.
Defence solicitor Chris Hogan told the court that he had spoken to his client the previous evening and that Mr Molloy was in hospital in London.
Garda Ryan gave evidence that on 1 January 2025, while on patrol in an unmarked car in Carlow town, he observed a black Skoda driving in the direction of the garda station. He saw the car swerve on two occasions and proceeded to turn on his blue flashing lights. He observed the Skoda drive from Greenbank Road to the carpark opposite the garda station, where it pulled in.
“I opened the driver’s door and the person in the driver’s seat (Mr Molloy) had slurred speech, his eyes were bloodshot and there was a strong smell of alcohol,” Garda Ryan told the court.
Mr Molloy handed over a full driver’s licence, but when he went to get out of the car after being asked by Garda Ryan to step out, he almost fell over.
Mr Molloy was arrested for committing an offence under section 4(1) of the and was brought to Carlow Garda Station where he was asked to give a breath specimen to test for the concentration of alcohol he had consumed.
The Evidenser machine used by An Garda Síochána requires two samples to be provided, but Mr Molloy refused to do so and two incompletes were printed out from the machine.
Inspector Conor Nolan asked Garda Ryan: “He simply refused?”
Garda Ryan replied: “He said he wasn’t going to blow into the machine.”
When asked what the defendant’s demeanour was like on the day in question, Garda Ryan said: “He was extremely drunk but still .”
Garda Ryan noted there was also no valid tax disc displayed on the car’s windscreen. A fixed-penalty notice was issued for this but it wasn’t paid.
The court heard that Mr Molloy had 43 previous convictions dating from 2020 back to 2008, quite a few of which were for possession of drugs and public order offences. There were also previous drink driving offences from 2003 and 2004 for which his licence had been endorsed for a total of seven years, with a two-year driving ban.
Upon hearing the evidence, Judge Geraldine Carthy said it was “all quite stark”, adding that the threshold had been reached.
She convicted and fined Mr Molloy €1,000 and disqualified him from driving for four years in relation to drink driving, and fined him €300 for not having valid motor tax, to be paid within 90 days.
