A 31-year-old  motorist has been disqualified from driving for three years for drink driving following a single vehicle accident on the Clonakilty bypass.

Geoffrey Shoemaker (31), of Convent Road, Clonakilty, pleaded guilty at Clonakilty District Court to drink driving on February 19th last just after 12am, Gardaí who attended the scene noticed the smell of drink from the defendant who admitted that he was drunk and a breath sample he provided  showed he was above the legal alcohol limit. 

The court heard that Mr Shoemaker had no previous convictions. 

Defence solicitor Conrad Murphy said his client had issues with alcohol for some time but had been sober for five years before this incident. 

He said that Mr Shoemaker had been in residential treatment since March 9th last and has  support from his mother who was in court. 

He plans to attend an after-care programme once the treatment had finished, added Mr Murphy

‘People make mistakes. He has learnt from it and taken all appropriate action,’ said Judge Joanne Carroll

She disqualified him from driving for three years and said she would not be imposing any other sentence because the driving ban will have very significant consequences for him both vocationally and domestically. 

Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.