Man’s backfiring ‘show’ in Letterkenny backfires

A young man has been fined €200 after putting on an illegal car show for 'dunken onlookers' in Letterkenny.

Jordan Smith appeared at Letterkenny District Court charged with driving his vehicle without due consideration for others.

The court heard that on August 27, 2022 at Ramelton Road in Letterkenny, Smith was stopped at traffic lights.

He began to rev his car loudly and forced it to backfire on purpose.

He continued to rev the car in what Garda Sergeant Sean McDaid told the court was 'a show for drunken onlookers'.

However, Smith, of Drumnabeg, Spamount, Castlederg, Tyrone, didn't realise that Garda Niall Maguire witnessed the event.

He was charged that he did drive a vehicle without reasonable consideration for other persons using said place, contrary to section 51(A) of the Road Traffic Act, 1961 (as substituted by section 4 of the Road Traffic (No. 2) Act 2011) and section 102 of the Road Traffic Act, 1961(as amended by section 18 of the Road Traffic Act, 2006).

The 33-year-old represented himself in court and pleaded guilty to the offence.

Judge Eiteain Cunningham fined the accused €200 but did not disqualify him from driving on this occasion.