Kildare court: Man who drove while drunk on New Year’s Eve gets four-year driving ban

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A Kildare town resident who drove while drunk on New Year’s Eve was handed down a four-year driving ban.

Leigh Hughes, with an address listed as 3512 Bishopsland, Kildare town, was convicted by Judge Desmond Zaidan over the offence when he appeared at Naas District Court on Thursday, October 10 last.

The court was told that on December 31, 2019, the 38-year-old had been caught driving while under the influence of alcohol at Dunmurray Rise, Kildare town.

A blood sample which was taken from Mr Hughes later confirmed the presence of alcohol in his system at the time of the offence, and a charge of dangerous driving was withdrawn by the State.

He was also being prosecuted in court for driving without insurance on The Curragh on May 5, 2019.

Gardaí told the judge that Mr Hughes has 13 previous convictions, including two related to no insurance offences and one conviction relating to drink-driving.

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Mr Hughes was defended by solicitor Seamus Boyle.

Defending solicitor Seamus Boyle told Judge Zaidan that his client ‘has not encountered any trouble with gardaí since’.

He said that the drink-driving incident occurred ‘during a bad period’ in his client’s personal life.’

“He [Mr Hughes] puts his hands up to the offence,” Mr Boyle added.

In response, Judge Zaidan said he would not impose any fines on Mr Hughes, and instead would impose a four-year driving disqualification on him, with endorsement to follow.

“I am being very lenient with him,” the judge told Mr Boyle.