An environmental scientist was several times over the legal drink-drive limit when she collided with a cyclist on a shared bus and cycle lane in Dublin, a court has heard.
Rebecca Griffith, 33, of Blackheath Park, Clontarf, Dublin, had been drinking vodka from a 7Up bottle in her car before the collision on Malahide Road on August 17 last year. She pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court to drunk driving and careless driving.
Judge Grainne Malone heard the 34-year-old cyclist had been going toward Artane shortly before 5pm when Griffith struck him from behind. The impact sent the man over the handlebars, and he landed on the road in front of her Opel Astra.
Another cyclist assisted him and an ambulance brought him to hospital for a CAT scan and a tetanus injection; he suffered bruising and a concussion. Griffith provided gardaà with a sample, giving a reading of 407 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of urine.
In a victim impact statement, the cyclist said that he was now nervous on his bicycle, felt vulnerable, and suffered from occasional flashbacks. He said he still suffered pain and discomfort.
He was off work for two weeks and his expenses were €700; the court heard that he had also received a civil settlement from a compensation claim.
Defence counsel Emmett Nolan said his client was lucky not to have caused fatal injury and be facing a more severe charge. Griffith issued an unreserved apology through her barrister and in a letter brought to court.
The defence acknowledged the drink-drive reading was quote “extraordinarily high”, and it had been obvious to gardaà in the aftermath that she had consumed alcohol. The woman offered €2,500 to the cyclist as a token of remorse.
Mr Nolan said his client had suffered from a bad alcohol addiction and had been drinking the night before the incident.
On the day of the collision, she had been working, surveying at Trinity College, and finished at 3pm. She visited her sister, but they had a row, and she left. The court heard she bought a bottle of vodka and poured it into a 7Up bottle.Â
The barrister said his client was highly educated and travelled; she had studied environmental science at Trinity College and worked in that field.
The court was furnished with a letter from her doctor showing that she was on antidepressant medication. Counsel said her drink problem began several years ago when she worked in a well-known late-night eatery in Dublin, and staff would have drinks after closing time.
The court heard she used alcohol as a coping mechanism, but her family hoped that she would abstain from drinking and engage with services to help her deal with the issue.
Pleading for leniency, the barrister asked the court to treat it as an aberration by a young woman who made a significant error in her life but otherwise had a lot going for her.
Judge Malone expressed concern that “someone would pour a bottle of vodka into themselves and get behind the wheel of a car” and said the offence was at the high end. She noted Griffith had no previous convictions and was going to counselling.
She adjourned sentencing until January for a probation report and to hear further information about the compensation awarded in the civil proceedings.
The accused, who did not address the court, was remanded on bail and ordered not to drive while awaiting the sentencing hearing.
