Man tired waiting for a taxi took golf buggy into town

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A WEDDING guest who couldn’t get a taxi into town took a golf buggy from the Lough Erne Resort and drunkenly drove it for four miles on the main road before being apprehended by police.

Enniskillen Magistrates Court heard on Monday that the golf buggy had been sitting in the grounds of the resort with the keys inside it when it was taken by Galway man Jonathan Coen (24) in the early hours of the morning of Saturday, November 7.

Coen, who has an address at Loughrea, Galway was charged with drink driving and taking a conveyance without authority in connection with the incident. He was detected at approximately 4.20am after police responded to reports of the buggy being driven on the Lough Shore Road, Silverhill.

When stopped by police Coen, who had a passenger on board and was “weaving” along the road, had made it four miles from the resort and was within the town boundaries of Enniskillen.

Coen, who had no previous convictions in the North or South, was arrested on suspicion of drink driving and taken to Enniskillen Police Station, where he returned a reading of 84 microgrammes of alcohol per 100ml of breath, more than twice the legal limit. Coen was interviewed the following morning and accepted full responsibility for taking the buggy.

Defence solicitor Barry Lynam explained that Coen had been attending a friend’s wedding at the resort that night and had been unable to get a taxi into his hotel in Enniskillen. He said Coen then spotted the buggy, which was at the front of the resort with it’s keys still inside.

Mr Lynam accepted driving the golf buggy on the public road at 4am was a very dangerous manoeuvre and Coen accepted it was “foolish in the extreme.”

Mr Lynam said Coen was of good character and handed in a letter from the Gardai in Sligo and a reference from his employer to the court. District Judge Nigel Broderick said it was “not the usual” case of drink driving, and added the case was “all the more remarkable” because Coen was of such good character and employed in a position of responsibility.

Judge Broderick said a golf buggy was “in no way fit for the public road, particularly in the hours of darkness” and said if any vehicle had come along Coen, his passenger and others on the road could have been killed. He said the buggy should not have been on the road “either night or day” and “alcohol was clearly a factor.”

Judge Broderick said from the references handed in it was very clear the behaviour had been out of character, adding it was a very dangerous and foolish thing to do which he believed Coen “now realises in the cold light of day.” For drink driving he disqualified him from driving for 14 months, until retested, and fined him £250. For taking the buggy without authority he fined him £100.

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