BMW driver gets six-month ban for doing handbrake turns in Square car park
By Brendan Grehan
A BMW driver who was doing handbrake turns at one in the morning in a car park in The Square in Tallaght left Tallaght Court with a six-month driving ban.
Narcis Constantin was originally charged with dangerous driving but this was reduced to careless driving by Judge Patricia McNamara after she heard the facts.
Constantin, aged 23, with an address at Alderwood Grove, Tallaght, pleaded guilty to careless driving and using a vehicle without an NCT at Belgard Square, Tallaght , on July 13, 2017.
Garda Kevin Bowen told Judge McNamara that at 1.20am on the above date, he had been on mobile patrol in the Tallaght area when he responded to a report that a BMW was being driven dangerously.
He said he stopped a BMW in Belgard Square, which was being driven by Constantin. Garda Bowen said the NCT had expired in May 2016 and the car was seized.
He said that he was later contacted by security in The Square who said that they had CCTV footage of the BMW performing a number of handbrake turns in a car park in The Square a few minutes earlier.
Garda Bowen added: “The car park was empty at the time. There was no immediate danger to the public.”
Judge McNamara reduced the dangerous driving to careless driving.
Garda Bowen said Constantin had 16 previous convictions including a €150 fine for no seat belt, a fine for speeding and two previous for having no NCT’s.
Judge McNamara noted that it was Constantin’s third offence for not having an NCT.
Constantin’s solicitor, John O’Leary, asked the judge not to impose a disqualification.
Judge McNamara said a disqualification was mandatory for the NCT as it was his third offence.
She fined Constantin €150 for the careless driving and imposed a six-month driving ban for having no NCT.
