‘Highly intoxicated’ Limerick man crashed into wall while banned from the roads

A “highly intoxicated” man who crashed into a wall while he was disqualified from driving refused to provide a blood sample to gardai following his arrest, a court has heard.

Luke O’Brien, aged 29, of Lisheen Park, Patrickswell pleaded guilty to a number of charges, under the Road Traffic Act, when he appeared before Newcastle West Court.

Garda Inspector Gearóid Thompson told the court that on July 20, 2024, Mr O’Brien was involved in a single car collision at Main Street, Pallaskenry.

Emergency services attended the scene of the incident and Mr O'Brien was subsequently brought by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick.

Whilst in the ambulance, gardaí attempted but failed to obtain a breath sample from Mr O’Brien, who was described as “highly intoxicated”.

The accused subsequently refused to give a blood sample to a doctor when he arrived at the hospital.

Insp Thompson said that Mr O’Brien was “not really understanding where he was” and that “there was some sort of confusion” - possibly because of his level of intoxication.

The defendant has a number of previous convictions, including five for driving without insurance, and was disqualified at the time.

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Solicitor Andrew d'Arcy, representing the accused, submitted the State would have “had some difficulty" had the matter been contested by his client.

He said there were no witnesses who saw the crash and he described the case as “an unusual type of situation” that was “not a straight forward road traffic matter”.

The solicitor told the court that his client had suffered “a serious unprovoked assault” a number of years ago, which had a “profound impact” on him.

Mr O’Brien, he said, suffered brain damage as a result of the assault and spent some time in hospital.

Mr d'Arcy went on to say that his client had a “relatively unblemished character” before the assault but his life had “taken a bad twist” since.

The solicitor said this doesn’t excuse his client's “bad record” in recent years but “it might explain it”. Mr d'Arcy also told the court that Mr O'Brien is working in regeneration as a labourer whenever he is required.

He said his client is “not a man who is sitting idly” and that he tries to “busy himself” whenever he can. Mr d'Arcy asked Judge Carol Ann Coolican not to impose a custodial sentence given those circumstances.

He said that Mr O’Brien has an underlying issue with alcohol and accepts that he needs help in dealing with that problem.
He concluded by saying that his client deserves credit in “deciding to fall on his sword” by pleading guilty.

Having considered the matter and noting the submissions, Judge Coolican adjourned the case until February 19, 2026 to facilitate the preparation of a probation report.