Limerick Councillor has Drunk Driving charge dismissed on technicality

wingnut

http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/local-news/limerick-councillor-admits-he-drank-and-drove-but-charge-dismissed-1-5572830

I really hate this crap.

steveon

Complete disgrace and nothing new.....it shouldnt matter if the address was wrong....if he done it and there was proven evidence of him being over the limit he should be prosecuted....doubt if he wasnt a councillor he'd have gotten off.

wingnut

Yeah, I only recently discovered the case where the guys were let off because of, literally, the steam off their p1ss:

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/drinkdrive-cases-dismissed-over-urine-steam-inhalation-26495923.html

grriff

the same old story one rule for 1 one rule for another

peckerhead

It's this part that bothers me most:

The low level of convictions in drink-driving cases and the large number of drink-drive cases which have still not come before the courts, despite dating back to 2003, has led to questions in the Dail. More than 71,000 drivers have faced drink-driving charges in the last five years but fewer than 39,000 -- just over 50 per cent -- were convicted.

Last week, the Sunday Independent revealed that nearly 10,000 suspected drunk drivers arrested by gardai between 2003 and 2007 have still not had their cases heard.

Whatever about the ones acquitted (many of them probably on similar technicalities), that's 10,000 arrests just "dropped".
Could be what, say 500 or 600 of those driving around Limerick right now?

Kess73

Is a joke that a technicality, one which a judge can legally amend if shown to be a genuine error, became a bigger issue that the fact the man was caught drink driving on a public road.

Guess the message being sent out is that being over the limit on Irish roads is only a big deal when it suits a judge and can be dismissed as a nothing event at other times.


Then again it is the very same system that lets people who sexually assault children in Limerick walk out on the same day as they pleaded guilty to what they did, something that only got a tiny mention in the local media two or so weeks ago.

It seems the courts think it better to protect the drink drivers like the councillor mentioned in the link in the first thread, or guys who admit to sexually assaulting young children than to actually punish them using the means available to the judges/courts.

Sad thing is that drink drivers, kiddie fiddlers, career criminals and the like all get to walk away from courts on almost a daily basis across Ireland even if they do admit to their crimes.

Quixoticelixer

Legal system is bull****, whether you murder someone or you drink drive the system is designed to give you every chance with getting away with what you have done or receiving the bare minimum punishment.

For a drink driving case it should be as simple as; Was the defendant the one driving the car? Yes. Was the defendant over the legal limit? Yes. Done, guilty. Driving ban, fine, next case.