Former Royal Marine jailed for four months

A FORMER Royal Marine was jailed for four months after he was detected driving while uninsured less than a month after he was banned from driving.
Darren McHale (26) of 82 Moy Heights, Ballina, was told by Judge Mary Devins that he had shown ‘blatant disregard’ to the court when he drove a car last March, having been disqualified from driving the previous month.
Mr McHale appeared before Swinford District Court sitting in Ballina on Friday, which heard that he was stopped by Sergeant Ronan Mahon on Pound Street, Ballina, on March 7, 2015.
Sgt Mahon explained that the car had no NCT, and neither tax nor insured, and that Mr McHale did not hold a current drivers’ licence. He explained that the defendant had a number of road traffic convictions and was given a two-year driving ban on February 7, 2015, for drink driving and for having no insurance.
He also received a driving ban on two separate occasions in 2011 for drink driving in Ballina and Limerick.
After hearing the convictions, Judge Mary Devins told Mr Henry Hewson, solicitor for the defendant that his client was in trouble and was going to jail. When asked why he chose to drive after receiving the driving ban, Mr Hewson admitted he ‘couldn’t get to the bottom of that’.

Chequered past
Mr Hewson said his client had a chequered past. He had joined the Royal Marines when he was 19 or 20 but had to leave after one year after suffering from septicaemia in one of his feet. He was advised to get counselling to reintroduce himself into society, but he did not take it up and started drinking heavily. Mr Hewson said Mr McHale was ‘not in a great place’ after leaving the Marines.
Mr McHale told the court he had broken up with his girlfriend at the time he was detected driving, and that he was driving the car, which was his friend’s, to the gym.
Mr Hewson added that his client had a full-time job and was involved in body building, which he said was the discipline he needed in his life. He asked Judge Devins to consider a probation report instead of imposing a custodial sentence.
However, Judge Devins said he chose to ignore the ruling of the court having just received three convictions, one of which was for having no insurance. She jailed Mr McHale for four months and fined him €1,000. A six-year driving disqualification was also imposed, and she stated that he could not receive another licence until a certificate of competency is completed.