Community service for man who kicked the car he hit

A MAN who kicked a car, after he rear-ended it, had been drinking at a celebration to commemorate a famous Lithuanian pilot in Ballinrobe, a court heard.
Alvydas Narbutas of 104 Gleann na Rí, Galway, was driving down Glebe Street, Ballinrobe when he rear-ended a Ford Focus on September 27, 2015, when the car stopped to allow pedestrians to cross the street.
Last week’s sitting of Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court heard he then got out of the car and started to kick the back and the rear drivers’ door of the Ford Focus. When gardaí arrived at the scene, they found Mr Narbutas in an extremely intoxicated and aggressive state, and he was arrested for drink driving. He struggled with Garda John Doherty during the arrest, knocking him to the ground, and had to be restrained with handcuffs. A subsequent blood test showed a concentration of 255mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.
Mr Narbutas pleaded guilty to criminal damage, willful obstruction of a police officer and drink driving. The court was told that on the day he had been in Ballinrobe where the Lithuanian ambassador had honoured Lithuanian pilot, Felix Waitkus, who landed his plane in a field near Ballinrobe in 1935.
His counsel, Mr Diarmuid Connolly, said he had been drinking at the celebrations and got into his car to drive home. He added Mr Narbutas was of a low risk of reoffending.
Judge Rory McCabe said the incident must have been very frightening for the driver of the Ford Focus, who did not do anything other than stop to allow people cross the street. He sentenced Mr Narbutas to 100 hours community service in lieu of three months in prison for criminal damage, while also disqualifying him from driving for three years and fining him a total of €1,250.