Drug driver put off the road for one year by Carlow District Court
Carlow Courthouse
A MOTORIST was fined €250 and disqualified from driving for one year after testing positive for cannabis when gardaí stopped him for holding a mobile phone while driving.
Gavin Cummiskey (47) Carrig Court, Blackrock, Dublin appeared before Judge Geraldine Carthy at Carlow District Court. He pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence of an intoxicant, contrary to section 4(1) of the .
Prosecuting Sgt McPartlin told the court that, on 7 February at 1.09pm, Garda Maxwell was on patrol when he observed the driver of a grey BMW holding a mobile phone in his right hand. Garda Maxwell stopped the vehicle and the driver, Mr Cummiskey admitted to having his phone in his hand while plugging it into a charger as he was using Google Maps.
During this interaction, Garda Maxwell noted a strong smell of cannabis from the defendant’s vehicle and subsequently demanded a roadside oral fluid test from Mr Cummiskey, which indicated a positive result for cannabis.
The defendant was then arrested and conveyed to Baltinglass Garda Station where he provided a blood sample. Analysis detected 9.8ng of cannabis per ml of blood.
The court heard that Mr Cummiskey has five previous convictions, all related to road traffic matters, the most recent of which was from September 2018, when he was fined a total of €700 for driving without a licence or insurance.
In mitigation, defence solicitor Chris Hogan said his client pleaded guilty at the earliest possible moment and had his licence with him in court.
Judge Geraldine Carthy convicted and fined Mr Cummiskey €250, to be paid within 90 days, and disqualified him from driving for one year.
