A Judge asked if a driver was “on Red Bull” when he was told that the defendant was detected driving at 196kph on the motorway, where the maximum speed limit is 120kph.
“What was he on, Red Bull? That’s 76kph over the limit,” Judge James Faughnan said when the case came before him at Tuam District Court.
The Judge then asked the prosecuting Garda what sort of a car was involved and was told it was a high-end BMW.
The driver’s solicitor said that on the day of the detection his client was in a BMW which was on loan from a garage. He was involved in the business of building log cabins and on the day in question there were forest fires blazing in the vicinity of their site in Roscommon.
He had five staff working there and needed to get to them as fast as possible.
The Judge demanded to know why the defendant wasn’t in court to answer the charge. In addition, he asked if he had completed a speed awareness course.
He refused to deal with the case in the absence of the driver, saying that the speed involved was huge and this was not a run-of-the-mill case. Adjourning matters until the February 10 sitting of the Court, Judge Faughnan said: “He needs to come in and explain himself.”
