A former trucker caught drink-driving three times in two years was only put off the road for the first time yesterday because of the backlog of cases before the courts.
Raymond Hynes (32), a married father-of-three from Wellview Avenue, Mulhuddart, Dublin, pleaded guilty yesterday to driving with excess alcohol in March 2002, July 2003 and March 2004.
Dublin District Court heard that the 2002 case - when he was caught driving with more than twice the legal limit - was not dealt with until yesterday because of the massive backlog of drink-driving cases, mainly caused by legal challenges to the new breath-test system.
It was a similar situation with the 2003 case when he was found to have 65 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of breath. When he was caught again in 2004, he was charged instead of summonsed so that the case could be brought more quickly to court.
He then failed to turn up in court and was later arrested and spent seven days in prison before getting bail.
His lawyer said he had been working as a long-distance lorry driver, a job he found very difficult, and at the same time got into drinking and marital difficulties. He had since taken steps to address his problems with the help of a social worker.
Judge Timothy Lucey said the case highlighted the problems caused by delays in dealing with drink-drive cases. He had to deal with Hynes as a first-time offender, rather than a three-in-a-row drink-driver. Because of this and his guilty plea, he would not send him to prison. He fined Hynes €600 and banned him from driving for five years.