West Cork homeowner woken by drunk man driving around his back garden

A Bantry homeowner was woken in the early hours of the morning by the sound of a loud engine revving only to discover that the culprit was driving a BMW around his back garden.

Court presenter Sergeant Tom Mulcahy told Bantry District Court that Artur Scherbakov, aged 25, with an address at the Westlodge Hotel, Bantry, Co Cork, was pleading guilty to drink driving, driving without insurance, criminal damage, and failing to produce insurance.

The court heard that in the early hours of October 31, 2024, the owner of a house at Ardnagheey, Bantry, Co Cork, was woken by the sound of a car engine revving loudly and repeatedly for up to 20 minutes.

When he looked out of his bedroom window, he saw a black BMW car driving around in his back garden.

The homeowner confronted the driver, identified as Artur Scherbakov, who was trying to drive the car up a steep embankment at the back of the house from the back garden. 

Gardaí were called and they helped Scherbakov manoeuvre the car out of the side passageway to avoid further damage to the garden.

Gardaí took Scherbakov’s details, after which he drove the car out onto the public road and was arrested on suspicion of drink driving. 

His behaviour was described as erratic and when he was brought to Bantry Garda Station a urine test showed an alcohol level of 217mg per 100ml where the legal limit is 67mg.

The court was told that Scherbakov had three previous convictions, two for driving without insurance and one for driving without a licence. It also heard that he was disqualified from driving at the time of the incident.

Defence solicitor Flor Murphy said that his client was from Ukraine and had been living in Ireland for three years. 

FRIEND’S HOUSE

He said that Scherbakov worked and had gone drinking at a friend’s house that night. He said that his client borrowed his friend’s car to drive home because he did not want to miss the bus to work the next morning.

Mr Murphy said that Scherbakov had taken a wrong turn on the drive home and ended up in the back garden which he could not drive out of because of the steep embankment to the rear. 

He said that his client was willing to pay for the damage but the home owner had filled in the holes himself and wanted nothing to do with the accused. 

Mr Murphy added that Scherbakov made full admissions, does not own a car, and has not driven since.

Judge Joanne Carroll said that the alcohol reading was extremely high and the only positive was that Scherbakov had not killed somebody. 

For driving without insurance, he was sentenced to three months in prison suspended for one year and disqualified from driving for four years.

For drink driving, he was also sentenced to three months in prison suspended for one year and disqualified from driving for four years. He was also fined €200 and given four months to pay. 

The criminal damage charge was taken into consideration and the failure to produce insurance was struck out.

This article is funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme