Ukrainian man drove drunk after brother killed in war

A Ukrainian man, who had just heard his brother had been killed in the war, went out and drove his car while drunk before his erratic driving was spotted by gardaí, a recent sitting of Bandon Court heard.

Prosecuting Sgt Tom Mulcahy told the court that on the afternoon of November 13th last on a road between Kinsale and Halfway, gardaí saw a blue 05 C Mercedes driving towards them in an erratic manner and the car was also missing its front number plate after hitting a ditch.

The car pulled over at the entrance to a nearby residence and the driver, identified as Ukrainian national Mykola Kashpirov (31,) got out of the vehicle. He was unsteady on his feet and there was a strong smell of alcohol. He was arrested at 1:35pm and taken to Bandon Garda Station where a blood test confirmed he had a blood alcohol level of 67mg alcohol to 100 ml blood.

Defence solicitor Plunkett Taaffe said that there were extenuating circumstances that could go some way to explaining his client’s behaviour. Mr Taaffe said that Mr Kashpirov was originally from the Donbas region and that on the morning of the incident he had received a phone call from his mother in Ukraine informing him that his brother had been killed in the war. Mr Taaffe said that on hearing the news, his client became distraught and took a bottle of whiskey and headed for the coast in the car, not knowing what he was going to do.

‘It was a very distressing situation for him,’ he told Judge Philip O’Leary. ‘His mother is in Ukraine and he could not go to her and she could not come to him in Ireland.”

Mr Taaffe said his client previously had insured the car but this had lapsed as he could not afford the payments and the car was off the road at the time of the incident. He said that Mr Kashpirov worked in a Polish shop and walked 7km to and from work every day. He added that he supported his eight-year-old child and earned €380 per week. Mr Kashpirov had no previous convictions.

Judge O’Leary accepted that the circumstances were severe and took into account Mr Kashpirov’s previously clean record. He imposed a mandatory three-year driving ban and fined him €50, allowing fourth months to pay.