‘Death wish’ granny jailed for speeding at Kildare court
Image for illustration purposes
A GRANDMOTHER who was clocked at more than three times the speed limit on a country road was jailed for five months last week.
Margaret Connors (54) of Woodlands East, Castledermot appeared for hearing in Athy District Court having earlier pleaded not guilty of doing 182kph in a 60kph zone on the L3976 in Tankardstown, Ballylinan, on the Kildare-Laois border on 2 September.
When she told Judge Desmond Zaidan that she was in a hurry to get to her grandchildren and just hadn’t been paying attention, he replied: “If you had an accident at that speed your grandchildren would be changing your nappies, not the other way round.” Garda Padraig Minnock gave evidence that a GoSafe van clocked the speed on that stretch of road, and when asked by the judge if the road was: “rural, or national?” Garda Minnock replied: “rural”.
“That’s a death wish,” commented the judge.
“We have CCTV,” said Garda Minnock, who brought his laptop round to the bench for the judge to view the footage.
“Come round,” said the judge to Ms Connors and her barrister Hugo Mills. “You can watch your car starring”.
“I see that. That is a rural road,” said the judge, after viewing the footage.
Sergeant Mary Meade confirmed that the defendant had two previous convictions, including one for having no insurance.
“What were the weather conditions?” asked the judge.
“It was dry, 4.02pm, and very little traffic,” said the garda.
“You know speed kills, but this is a death wish! Three times over the limit?” said the judge.
“At such a speed in a small car like that, your heart must’ve been fluttering in your chest,” he added.
“This is not something she makes a habit of, but no question. This is dangerous driving,” said Mr Mills.
“Nothing can justify this behaviour, because when it goes wrong it is catastrophic,” said the judge.
“If sending someone to jail for this sort of speed doesn’t send out a message,” he said before sending her down for five months, banning her from driving for two years, and setting her appeal bond at €500.
