Dangerous driver jailed for four months

Young man, clocked at 173km/h, put off the road for eight years

A 23-YEAR-OLD man of Polish extraction was jailed for four months and put off the road for eight years when he appeared at Cavan District Court recently on multiple road traffic charges, one of which related to driving at 173km/h on the N3 between Cavan and Belturbet.

Judge Deirdre Gearty had been told of 29 previous convictions accrued by Michal Paczesny of 24 Árd Na Gréine, Cavan, for offences including possession of drugs and refusing to provide samples in relation to driving.

Paczesny pleaded guilty to dangerous driving by excessive speed at Cormacmullan, Belturbet on July 28, 2024, as well as to refusing to provide samples after being arrested.

Sergeant Lisa McEntee recalled how Garda Conor Rice detected a 2011 VW Passat travelling at 173km/h (107mph) in a 100km zone on the N3. He stopped the vehicle and spoke to Paczesny, who was arrested. While at Cavan Garda Station, the defendant refused to provide an oral fluid specimen, and also failed to provide either blood or urine samples.

A guilty plea was also entered to charges of driving uninsured and without a licence at Drumalee, Cavan Town on December 8, 2024. The court was told that at 6:36pm, Garda Shauna Ward observed Paczesny, who was known to her, as the sole occupant of a car. She made a lawful demand for insurance and a driving licence.

Sgt McEntee said these were never produced, and she later confirmed that the defendant would have been disqualified from driving at that time.

In respect of a separate drug possession charge, Paczesny admitted having a small amount of cocaine, valued at €35, at Seangharraí Drive, Ballinagh, on April 25, 2024.

The court heard Paczesny admitted having the substance for his own personal use.

He had 29 previous convictions, some of which occurred when he was a juvenile. His most recent conviction was recorded in November, 2024, when he was fined €750 for careless driving and disqualified from driving for four years for refusing to provide samples.

Barrister Sara Brennan said her client wished to apologise to gardaí and also to the general public for the manner of his behaviour, particularly for the dangerous driving on the Cavan-Belturbet road. He accepted that he had been travelling at “an entirely excessive speed”, for which there could be no excuse and for which he had no explanation.

She described Paczesny as Polish but said he had been raised primarily in Ireland. Counsel added that he came from a troubled background. He fell in with poor company at a young age and began taking drugs, aged just 12 or 13 years. He spent some time in detention while a juvenile.

But, the court heard, Paczesny continued his education until he was 17 and also obtained a qualification as a fitness instructor. He also completed a welding course, Ms Brennan stated.

Admitting that her client’s record was poor, the barrister informed the court that most of his family had returned to Poland, where they were building a new and sober life for themselves. He himself had gone out there in February after a steel fixing job in Ballyjamesduff came to an end, and he had been working with his father and staying out of trouble.

He was back in Ireland since May but was ultimately intending to go back to Poland. He was also very anxious not to receive a custodial sentence and was willing to carry out community service.

Judge Gearty, however, said she could not see how there was any possible way to avoid prison sentences in this case.

For refusing to give a blood or urine sample after being stopped for the speeding on the N3 in July 2024, she imposed a two-month prison sentence and a six-year driving disqualification. She imposed a further two months in jail for the dangerous driving, to be served consecutively to the first sentence. A two-year driving ban was also given for this offence, again consecutive, bringing the overall disqualification period to eight years.

For the cocaine possession at Ballinagh in April 2024, the judge imposed a €200 fine; while the insurance and driving licence offences at Drumalee last December were taken into consideration. The remaining driving charges were struck out or withdrawn on that basis.

Recognisances were fixed in the event of an appeal.

Meanwhile, six further counts against Mr Paczesny relating to an alleged driving incident in Cavan Town on November 7, 2024, were adjourned to November 9 when the defendant must indicate a plea.