Christmas hit-and-run driver ‘out of his head’

Christmas hit-and-run driver ‘out of his head’


A Westport driver who crashed into two cars, left the scene and eventually ran aground outside the town after gardaí chased him was ‘out of his head’ at the time, a court has heard.
Pawel Fabia (30) of 24, The Elms, Westport, appeared before Westport District Court, sitting in Castlebar, on Thursday last. The man, a native of Poland, was facing seven charges, one of which was withdrawn after a guilty plea was entered.
Supt Joe McKenna told the court that at 10.35pm on December 22, 2013, gardaí in Westport were notified about a hit and run at the Quay Road in the town.
Garda John Boyle went to the scene, where he saw two damaged cars. Fabia had driven into a car being driven by Laura O’Malley of Carrabawn, Westport. Garda Boyle said Ms O’Malley was ‘pretty shaken up’ and was being comforted by locals.
The other car belonged to Michael Hunter, who had pulled in on the other side of the road after seeing Ms O’Malley and Mr Fabia’s cars damaged. Mr Fabia had reversed into Mr Hunter’s car as he left the scene at speed, the court heard.
Garda Boyle was then informed of a car that had gone out the Leenane Road with smoke coming from it, and he pursued it. He caught up with the car and observed the driving to be ‘very erratic’, ‘veering from left to right’, ‘mounting the ditch and back onto the road again’.
The car only stopped when it got stuck on mud on the side of the road at Bohea, Liscarney. Fabia was arrested on suspicion of drink driving and an analysis of his urine showed a concentration of 210 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of urine. The legal limit for experienced drivers is 67 micrograms and for new drivers it is 27 micrograms.
As Fabia is a driver without a driving licence, he is classified as a new driver and therefore was almost eight times over that legal limit.

Christmas party
Defending solicitor James Hanley said his client, who was not usually a drinker, had been drinking since 4pm that day, as it was his work Christmas party. Mr Fabia works as a kitchen porter in a Westport hotel.
Mr Hanley said Fabia had been drinking a ‘lethal cocktail of beer and whiskey’ and that by 10pm he was ‘out of his head’ and had ‘impulsively’ taken his girlfriend’s car. Mr Hanley said Fabia ‘doesn’t remember most of it’.
He told the court that since the accident, his client had saved money and had €4,170, the cost of the damage to both cars, in court. Mr Hanley said Fabia was ‘remorseful and upset’ and observed ‘luckily no one was fatally injured’.
He asked Judge Mary Devins to consider Mr Fabia as a candidate for community service rather than imposing a prison term.
Judge Devins said she felt neither prison nor community service were appropriate, as it was Fabia’s first conviction and ‘genuine’ efforts had been made to compensate for the material damage caused. The court heard that a civil case for personal injuries was also being pursued.
For drink driving, Judge Devins disqualified Mr Fabia from driving for three years and ruled that he not be allowed to drive until he passes his driving test. For driving without insurance, he was disqualified for two years, to run concurrent. For dangerous driving, he was also disqualified for a two-year concurrent sentence. The same disqualification ensued for failing to stop at the scene of the accident.
Mr Fabia was fined a total of €1,800 in respect of five charges, the above four and for driving without a driving licence. A charge of failing to remain at the scene was taken into consideration.