Crashed BMW onto footpath while driving under the influence of drugs

A man who crashed a BMW onto a footpath while driving under the influence of drugs has failed to attend court and was convicted in his absence. 

The defendant, 26-year-old Diego Gjowacki of 34 Marian Villas, Donegal Town is facing €600 in fines as well as a disqualification from holding a driving licence. The offences of drug driving, dangerous driving, and driving without insurance occurred at Doonan, Donegal Town on January 13. 

Monday’s sitting of Donegal District Court heard evidence from Garda Sean Rogers that he and another garda attended the scene after receiving a report of a single vehicle collision.

He told Judge Ciaran Liddy: “The initial report suggested the car was attempting to ‘drift’ the roundabout.”

On arrival, Garda Rogers found the BMW crashed into the footpath just off the roundabout. He observed three people on the forecourt of McIntyre’s Service Station and he approached them.

“One of them identified himself as the driver,” said the garda. “He said that the car was rear-wheel drive and he lost control of it.”

A roadside alcohol test proved negative. However, a drug test was positive, and further testing and analysis showed 25.7ng of metabolised cannabis per millilitre of blood. 

The defendant was asked to produce insurance at a garda station. He failed to do so.

Garda Rogers told the court that he had seen CCTV footage which showed that the defendant had indeed been attempting a drift manoeuvre at the roundabout when the collision occurred.

“There were no other vehicles,” he added. 

“He lost control and the car formed an S-type manoeuvre and crashed into the footpath. 

“Had there been anybody on the footpath it would have been very serious.”

For driving under the influence of drugs, Gjowacki was fined €200 and disqualified from holding a licence for one year. He was fined a further €200 for dangerous driving, and disqualified for two years. And for driving without insurance, Gjowacki was fined another €200 and banned from holding a licence for two years. 

A charge of failure to produce insurance was taken into consideration.

Judge Ciaran Liddy set recognisance at €100 in the event of an appeal.