Mulhall had previous motoring convictions – including careless driving and driving unaccompanied as a learner.
A dangerous driver was caught speeding along the M50 at more than 170kmh while on the phone and inhaling suspected “laughing gas” from a balloon.
Armed Support Unit gardaí intercepted Daire Mulhall (21) as he drove towards Dublin city centre in an “extraordinarily reckless” manner, a court heard.
Judge Bryan Smyth said the incident probably warranted a jail term but gave Mulhall a three-month suspended sentence.
He also banned the accused from driving for two years and fined him €300.
Mulhall, with an address at The Rise, Belgard Heights, Tallaght, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at Junction 9 on the M50 in Clondalkin on September 10, 2022.
Garda Richard Hennessy told Dublin District Court members of the ASU saw the accused heading northbound on the motorway, driving in excess of 170kmh while on the phone and “inhaling laughing gas, or some sort of gas.”
The accused pulled across several lanes of traffic while overtaking vehicles, the garda said.
When the gardaí pulled up alongside him and signalled him to stop, Mulhall appeared to be inhaling gas from a balloon, the court heard.
“It seems to be extraordinarily reckless behaviour,” Judge Smyth said.
Mulhall had previous motoring convictions – including careless driving and driving unaccompanied as a learner.
The accused worked as an apprentice in air conditioning, his solicitor Amanda Connolly said.
On the night in question, he got a call to say a friend needed to be collected in town and was coming in from Tallaght, Ms Connolly said.
Mulhall accepted what he did was “completely reckless behaviour” and an “act of stupidity," she said, asking the judge for leniency.
Judge Smyth said the case “probably warrants a custodial sentence” but given the guilty plea, he suspended the prison term for a year.
https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/world/man-21-caught-driving-over-170kmh-on-m50-while-on-phone-and-inhaling-suspected-laughing-gas/ar-BB1i1w6i