Tuam taxi driver now off drink for life

A TUAM taxi driver is now off drink for life after a relapse which resulted in him breaching a barring order and spending a week in custody, a defence solicitor told Judge Geoffrey Browne at Tuam District Court. Frank Ward, 78 Parkmore, Tuam was brought before the Court charged with breaches of a barring order imposed on him by the courts.[private] Sean Acton solr (defending) told the Court that his client was a taxi driver in Tuam and had been alcohol-free for over five years when he had a relapse and consequently found himself in trouble for breaching the barring order. He had come before an earlier sitting of the Court the previous week and had been remanded in custody until this hearing. Mr Acton assured Judge Browne that his client was now â€Å“off drink for life.â€Â Insp Mick Oâ€â„¢Dwyer said that the Gardai knew the defendant from his taxi-driving role. His last conviction dated back to 2004 for a public order offence and he had been prosecuted under the Casual Trading Act before that. Judge Browne imposed a one-month prison sentence, suspended for two years on condition he entered a bond to keep the peace and stay off drink and drugs. On a separate breach of a barring order charge a consecutive month in prison was imposed under the same conditions. â€Å“So, if he breaches the order again he will go to prison for two months. Mr Ward, try and stay off drink,â€Â Judge Browne said in conclusion.[/private]