A DRIVER of a borrowed BMW remained at the scene of a single vehicle road traffic collision in Glengarriff until gardaí arrived.

Judge Joanne Carroll heard at Bantry District Court Aleksandrs Balitovs, a 51-year-old fisherman, of apartment 3 at Tir Connaill in Castletownbere, was pleading guilty to a charge of careless driving and a charge of drink driving.

His solicitor challenged a charge of driving without insurance, saying the accused’s brother had insured his client to drive his vehicle, but omitted to tell him that it didn’t come into effect until midnight, and the accused was stopped by gardaí at Loughavaul in Glengarriff three hours earlier at 9pm on October 6th 2024.

Judge Carroll struck out the charge of driving without insurance, but she fined the accused €175 for careless driving.

‘Because of the location, it couldn’t be left unattended,’ said Sgt Trish O’Sullivan who described how the BMW rebounded back into the centre of the road after striking a concrete fence post. Balitovs was slurring his words and admitted he’d been drinking in Castletownbere.

Attempts to take a breath test were unsuccessful, but a blood sample taken at Bantry Garda Station showed he was over the limit.

Judge Joanne Carroll imposed a four-year mandatory disqualification. Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.