A banned, uninsured roads offender who was caught drunk and in possession of a sword in his vehicle has had his three-month jail term replaced with a suspended sentence on appeal.
Martin Stokes (32) with an address at Clondalkin, Dublin, was convicted in the District Court of driving or attempting to drive while under the influence of an intoxicant contrary to section 4(2b)(5) of the Road Traffic Act 2010. He was given a fine of €500 and a driving disqualification of three years.
He was also convicted of driving without insurance contrary to section 56(1)(3) of the Road Traffic Act 1961. For this he was sentenced to three months in custody and given a five year driving ban.
Stokes was also convicted for having with him “a sword which had a blade or which was sharply pointed” contrary to section 9(1)(7) of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, 1990. This was taken into consideration by the judge.
Charges for driving without a licence, failure to produce a licence and having no tax were also taken into consideration. Stokes later lodged an appeal against the severity of his sentence.
Sergeant Shay Leonard told the District Court Appeals Court that on January 21, 2022 at Westbourne Rise, Clondalkin, gardai approached a vehicle in the early hours of the morning that had no lights on.
The witness said that Stokes had a large sword on a seat in the vehicle.
Sergeant Leonard said that Stokes was tested and found to have 171mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in his system.
He said Stokes was disqualified from driving at the time and has 20 previous convictions.
Defence counsel for Stokes told the court that his client’s last offending prior to this was in 2017, while he has had a clean record since 2022.
He said that his client has mental health issues and is a big support to his family.
Judge Christopher Callan said that he noted the challenges Stokes had to deal with, the fact that he has not come to garda attention in the meantime and a letter of support from his partner.
The judge decided to fully suspend Stokes’ three-month sentence for a period of two years on the condition that he keeps the peace, does not come to the attention of gardai and abides by his doctor’s advice.
The disqualifications and fine imposed in the District Court remain in place.