Woman was over seven times legal alcohol limit

A WOMAN, who was over seven times the legal limit for alcohol in her system when she crashed a car in the Monaghan Town area, was told by a judge that she was “lucky she didn’t kill someone”, before being fined and put off the road for three years.

Louise Desmond (43) of Main Street, Roosky, Co Roscommon, pleaded guilty at Monaghan District Court to driving with excess alcohol at Roosky, Monaghan Town, on January 27, 2025.

Inspector Declan McGarvey said the matter arose from a traffic accident shortly after 2am on that Monday morning. He said gardaí observed that the car had come to rest at a grass verge after nearly colliding with a house. Ms Desmond was in the vehicle and had attempted to move it from the area.

A strong smell of alcohol was detected from her, and a sample following her arrest showed a reading of 349mg/100ml in blood (which comes to seven times the legal 50mg limit for experienced drivers).

“Wow!” was the single-syllable reaction this revelation prompted from Judge Raymond Finnegan, before he put it to defence counsel Joseph Smith BL that this was “quite a reading”.

Mr Smith said there was a background to the case, including a difficult marriage that had broken up, and an alcohol dependency on the part of his client. This had happened during a period of relapse, after Ms Desmond abstained from alcohol for 13 years, and following the accident she had returned to residential treatment.

Judge Finnegan remarked that Ms Desmond was lucky she didn’t kill someone. “With that reading she couldn’t possibly have had any control of that car,” he added.

Agreeing, Mr Smith said his client was in some ways lucky that this happened, as it had turned her back on the right road in life.

Upon having it confirmed Ms Desmond was working, the judge fined her €850, to be paid inside five months, and also disqualified her from driving for the mandatory three-year period. The driving ban was postponed to April 1 of this year at the defendant’s behest.