Motorist gets two-year ban for dangerous driving

A trainee paramedic who is licensed to drive both a truck and a car has received a two-year ban for dangerous driving.

Anna Sonishvili, a mother of two with an address at Breaffy Woods, Castlebar, pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving at Pontoon as she travelled from Ballina to Castlebar on the evening of April 26 last year.

State witness Deirdre McCarron told the court she was driving from Ballina to Castlebar that evening. As she drove through Pontoon, she noticed a silver car ahead of her.

“I saw the car veer across to the far side of the road several times, especially on bends,” Ms McCarron said, describing the experience as frightening.

Ms McCarron followed the car for about 16 kilometres until it reached Castlebar.

During that journey, she said the car took several bends on the wrong side of the road.

“A few cars coming towards us flashed their lights at her,” Ms McCarron added.

She said the car also crossed onto the wrong side of the road on some straight sections, but what concerned her most was seeing it move across the road while taking bends.

Ms McCarron said she called the gardaí and continued at a safe distance behind the car until both vehicles reached Castlebar, where the car turned into SuperValu car park.

Under questioning from defence solicitor Gary Mulchrone, the witness said she saw only one person in the car ahead of her.

She was surprised when Mr Mulchrone suggested there had been three people in the car - the defendant, a friend, and the friend’s daughter, who had been 16 at the time and is now 18.

She agreed there was no issue of excessive speed but said she had been upset because a number of cars were behind her.

Garda Noel Coen said he received a call from Ms McCarron at about 5.56pm that evening about a car being driven dangerously in the Pontoon area.

After identifying the defendant, Garda Coen said he went to Breaffy Woods and spoke to Anna Sonishvili, who admitted driving the car but denied driving dangerously. She produced her driving licence.

In a later statement, after being told that a witness had described her driving as dangerous, she dismissed the independent witness’s evidence as ‘fake’.

After the State closed its case, Mr Mulchrone applied to have the charge dismissed on the grounds that no evidence had been given about the precise location of the alleged dangerous driving. He argued that, although a specific location was named in the summons, that detail had not been put to his client.

Garda Inspector Declan McGlynn said the State’s independent witness could not be expected to identify exact points in Pontoon where the dangerous driving occurred, beyond saying it began in the Pontoon area and continued at various points on the road to Castlebar.

Judge Michael Connellan told Mr Mulchrone that his client had a case to answer.

Sonishvili said she had 14 years of driving experience, including almost four years in Ireland while training as a paramedic, as well as experience driving in her native Georgia. She also had a license to drive a truck which was part of her training as a paramedic.

She said a friend and the friend’s daughter had been in the car with her, but she had been unable to call them as witnesses because their English was very limited.

She denied crossing onto the opposite side of the road repeatedly while driving from Pontoon to Castlebar.

When it was put to her by Inspector McGlynn about cars flashing their lights and beeping their horns at her, witness said there may have been one incident of a car flashing its light but that may have been to warn her of a speed van which was parked at some point in the area.

She added that it was her first time driving on that particular road and it would be her last but as far as she was concerned the evidence against her was ‘fake'. 

Mr Mulchrone said it a case where the evidence from the State and the defendant was diametrically opposed, but he added that there are ‘significant bends’ around one area of Pontoon in particular.

Mr Mulchrone added that his client has two children aged 12 and five and losing her license would impact greatly on her work as a paramedic.

Inspector McGlynn said he didn’t wish to ‘put the boot in’ as he understood the impact a driving suspension would have on the defendant.

Judge Connellan said he was familiar with some case law in relation to one or two similar cases and he quoted one circuit court judge in particular who ruled that to establish dangerous driving there has to be a risk to the public established and in this particular case he was satisfied there was a very clear risk to the public given the evidence that had been placed before him.

Judge Connellan said he couldn’t consider reducing the charge to careless driving, stating that it was clearly a case of dangerous driving, and, in fact, it was fortunate that no accident had taken place.

He imposed a two-year driving ban and a fine of €250.

• Published as part of the Courts Reporting Scheme.