The daughter of EuroMillions winner Dolores McNamara yesterday received a one-year ban for careless driving.
Judge Alec Gabbett imposed the penalty on Kevanne McNamara at Ennis District Court.
Sgt Louis Moloney told the court that last July 20, the 38-year-old was observed driving on the wrong side of the road and colliding with a fence.
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He added another motorist on the R494 Rd into Ballina “had to take evasive action to avoid a collision”.
Sgt Moloney said no injuries arose from McNamara’s driving her Mercedes Benz.
The accused, of Ard Coillte, Ballina, Co Tipperary, had indicated a plea of guilty to dangerous driving but the garda said that requires a high threshold and on a review of the facts a plea to careless driving was acceptable.
As a result, McNamara escaped a two-year ban and instead Judge Gabbett imposed a 12-month penalty for careless driving.
McNamara’s solicitor Daragh Hassett said his client “was a little bit rudderless”, “was a little bit on her own” and was suffering with her mental health around the time of the driving offence but is now back on her feet.
Mr Hassett said McNamara has recently qualified as a beautician after passing her exams “and this will hopefully lead her to gaining full-time work”. The careless driving incident took place three months after her father Adrian died in April of last year.
Mr Hassett said McNamara “has had a hard couple of years”. He added she was is willing to take her medicine with the one-year driving ban but asked for the ban be deferred for six months.
In total, she was facing charges concerning four driving related alleged offences that include two counts of dangerous driving from the same day in July last year.
However, Mr Hassett said the State was happy that a guilty plea to a single charge from McNamara’s driving was sufficient to meet the case and the State was not proceeding on the other ones.
One of the charges the State did not proceed with was a charge of driving her car under the influence of an intoxicant to such an extent as to render her incapable of having proper control of her car at Main Street, Ballina on July 20, 2021.
As part of his order, Judge Gabbett also imposed a fine of €500. McNamara only spoke in court to say “thank you” to Judge Gabbett after he imposed sentence before leaving.
In court last October, Ms McNamara escaped a drugs conviction for the possession of €50 worth of cocaine at her home on October 23, 2020, after agreeing to pay €150 to the court poor box.
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