Search

22 Oct 2025

Motorist pleads guilty to drink driving after overtaking unmarked patrol car

The van overtook the Gardaí on an uphill section of the road

Motorist pleads guilty to drink driving after overtaking unmarked patrol car

A self employed carpenter who pleaded guilty to drink driving was banned from the road for three years.

Stephen Levins (47) of Maughera, Finea, Cavan faced a charge of drink driving on Friday, September 2, 2022 at Ballynacross, Granard, Longford. Two charges of dangerous driving were struck out at the commencement of proceedings.

Outlining details of the matter Inspector David Jordan said at 9:04pm on the day of the offence officers were travelling in an unmarked patrol car on the Abbeylara side of Granard. A Ford Transit van with bright LED lights came up behind the Garda vehicle at high speed.

The van overtook the Gardaí on an uphill section of the road, going on to the wrong side of the road. When the van was passed the officers noted there were no lights on the rear of the vehicle.

The Gardaí stopped the vehicle and spoke to the driver Mr Levins. They formed the opinion the driver was intoxicated and a subsequent test returned a reading of 105/100.

Solicitor Brid Mimnagh pointed out that her client had no previous convictions. She said the father of two children is a self employed carpenter, but is not working at present. Ms Mimnagh said Mr Levins is spending much of his time undertaking repairs to his own home.

The solicitor said her client suffers depression and accepted that on the day he had been drinking. Ms Mimnagh said the defendant had “dealt with his issues” and was now on medication.

She said Mr Levins wished to apologise to Gardai about his attitude in the evening.

The legal representative asked for a postponement for the mandatory driving ban for as long as possible.

Taking the facts of the case into consideration Judge Bernadette Owens registered a conviction, imposing a fine of €500 and disqualified Mr Levins for three years which will come into effect on May 1, 2024.

To continue reading this article,
please subscribe and support local journalism!


Subscribing will allow you access to all of our premium content and archived articles.

Subscribe

To continue reading this article for FREE,
please kindly register and/or log in.


Registration is absolutely 100% FREE and will help us personalise your experience on our sites. You can also sign up to our carefully curated newsletter(s) to keep up to date with your latest local news!

Register / Login

Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.

Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.