Motorist gets two-year driving ban for speeding through Cork town at night with no lights on

A motorist who sped through a town centre at twice the speed limit with no lights on in the early hours of the morning has been convicted of dangerous driving in the district court.

Court presenter, Sergeant Trish O’Sullivan, told Macroom District Court that George Blue Russell, aged 19 of Suncrest, Abbeymahon, Timoleague, Co Cork, was the driver of a Volkswagen Passat car that was detected by gardaí driving at speed along the Millstreet Road in Macroom at 2.47am on Sunday, December 1, 2024.

Gardaí following the car which was driving in a 50km/h zone had to travel at 70km/h to keep up, the court was told. When the patrol car activated its blue lights Russell turned off his lights and drove off at speed through Macroom.

The court was told that Russell was driving at 100km/h through the town with no lights on and gardaí decided to halt the pursuit in the interests of public safety. The car was abandoned in the carpark of the Lidl supermarket in Macroom and Russell was arrested 20 minutes later. 

The court heard that Russell had no previous convictions. Defence solicitor, Jack Purcell, said his client had bought the car a few days earlier and had not organised insurance or tax for the vehicle. 

He said when he saw the garda car Russell panicked and then “doubled down” and made the “stupid mistake” to drive off through the town. Mr Purcell said: 

“If he had just stopped we probably would not be here today.”

The court was told that Russell was an engineering student in Cork and he was quoted €3,600 to insure the car. Judge Joanne Carroll said she had no option but to convict Russell of dangerous driving. 

She said Russell was a young man and the conviction would make insurance very difficult for him in the future. She said: “You made a mistake and hopefully you can learn from it.”

Russell was convicted and disqualified from driving for two years.

This article is funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme