A driver was six times over the legal limit for alcohol when she hit a cyclist from behind in north Dublin almost two years ago. having been drinking vodka while driving.
Rebecca Griffith (34), Blackheath Park, Clontarf, Dublin, was banned from driving for five years and fined €1,500 at Dublin District Court after pleading guilty to being intoxicated while driving and careless driving.
She hit the male cyclist, who was in a cycle lane at the time, on Malahide Road as he cycled between Artane and Donnycarney on the afternoon of August 17th, 2023.
The cyclist was knocked from his bike, and over the handlebars, suffering multiple injuries but no broken bones. Another cyclist went to his aid before he was taken by ambulance to the Mater Hospital in the north inner city.
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He believed his helmet had saved him, though he sustained concussion, multiple soft tissue injuries and need x-rays and CT scans on his brain and spine such was the severity of the impact.
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The court was told Griffith, a qualified environmental scientist, had an issue with alcohol and had been drinking vodka from a 7Up bottle just before she hit the cyclist.
At a previous hearing of facts in the case, Judge Grainne Malone said it was of real concern that someone would "effectively pour a bottle of vodka into themselves" and then get behind the wheel of a car.
The court was told Griffith had been carrying out survey work at Trinity College on the day and finished work at about 3pm. She then went to visit her twin and when they had a row, Griffith turned to alcohol, having also been drinking the previous night.
She bought a bottle of vodka and was drinking it from the 7Up bottle just before the crash at about 5pm. Her barrister, Emmet Nolan, said Griffith had written a full and unreserved apology to the victim and accepted she had made a grave error.
This had been eye-opening for her and she had sought help for her alcohol issues. When she pleaded guilty last October she had offered the victim €2,500 as a token of her remorse. The court also heard she had no previous convictions.
