County Carlow woman disqualified for three years on drunk driving charge
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A CARLOW woman was fined €500 and disqualified from driving for three years after she pleaded guilty to drink-driving at Carlow District Court, having been found to be more than twice the legal limit.
Megan Carroll (38), Manor House Apartments, Market Square, Bagenalstown appeared before Judge Geraldine Carthy at Carlow District Court, charged with drink-driving contrary to section 4 of the .
The court heard that at around 6pm on 25 March 2024, on the R448 at Leighlinbridge, Garda Wilkinson observed a car driving erratically. Garda Wilkinson followed the vehicle before stopping it and speaking to the driver, who identified herself as Megan Carroll.
Ms Carroll was arrested and brought to Carlow Garda Station, where she provided a urine sample.
Analysis of the sample found that Ms Carroll had 229mg of alcohol per 100ml of urine â more than twice the legal limit of 107mg per 100ml.
The court heard that Ms Carroll has 12 previous convictions, all relating to road traffic offences, none of which were for drink-driving. Among these were three convictions for driving without insurance, the most recent of which, in 2018, resulted in a two-year disqualification.
Defence solicitor Alex Rafter told Judge Carthy that his client had been at a funeral, where she had been consuming alcohol into the early hours of the morning, and had “made the foolish decision to drive home”. Mr Rafter added that the vehicle Ms Carroll was driving belonged to her sister. He told the court that his client is currently working in a nursing home and doing a course to further her education.
Judge Carthy, noting that 229mg of alcohol per 100ml of urine was a “substantially high reading”, accepted the guilty plea and mitigating factors in her verdict, but fined Ms Carroll €500, to be paid within 120 days, with the option of paying in instalments, and disqualified her from driving for three years.
