Derry man who crashed Porsche into gas cylinders at filling station was over the limit

A motorist who crashed his friend’s luxury Porsche into a load of gas cylinders at an Inishowen filling station while over the legal alcohol limit has been fined and banned from driving.

Joseph Kelly, of 161 Beraghvale, Skeoge, Derry, appeared before Buncrana District Court, where he pleaded guilty to charges of drink driving and driving without insurance.

A separate charge of dangerous driving was dismissed by the court in light of his guilty pleas to the other matters.

The court heard that Garda Declan Lambe was called to the scene of a traffic collision at Applegreen, Burnfoot at approximately 2.30pm on May 15, 2025.

On arrival, he observed that a vehicle – a UK-registered Porsche Panamera – driven by Mr Kelly had mounted a cage containing gas cylinders on the forecourt.

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Evidence was given that Mr Kelly had driven into the premises and remained there for a short time before suddenly accelerating forward and colliding with the cage. The car ultimately came to rest on top of the cylinders.

Garda Lambe spoke with Mr Kelly at the scene and formed the opinion that he had consumed alcohol. The defendant was arrested on suspicion of drink driving and conveyed to Buncrana Garda Station, where a breath test was carried out.

The result showed an alcohol reading of 30 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath, exceeding the legal limit of 22 microgrammes.

Garda Inspector McCann told the court that a fixed charge penalty notice had been issued by post in relation to the offence, but it was not paid. The court also heard that Mr Kelly had no previous convictions.

Defence solicitor Donough Cleary outlined mitigating circumstances on behalf of his client. He explained that Mr Kelly had been experiencing medical issues in the period leading up to the incident and had suffered a blackout shortly beforehand. He had attended a doctor and undergone blood tests, but no abnormalities were detected.

Mr Cleary said CCTV footage of the incident suggested something unusual had occurred. He told the court that while Mr Kelly initially appeared to be in control of the vehicle, “some form of automatous event” seemed to take place, after which he was no longer in control at the moment of impact.

He described the collision as low-speed, estimating that the vehicle was travelling at approximately five miles per hour when it struck the gas cylinder cage. He added that his client had been fully cooperative with gardaí throughout the investigation.

Addressing the issue of no insurance, Mr Cleary explained that Mr Kelly had been collecting a Porsche on behalf of a friend and believed he was doing a favour. He acknowledged, however, that this had resulted in financial consequences, including approximately €1,500 worth of damage to the vehicle, which Mr Kelly had paid.

Mr Cleary also told the court that his client had not received the fixed charge notice in the post and would have paid it had it come to his attention.

Further mitigation was presented regarding Mr Kelly’s personal circumstances. The court heard that he is a single father to one young son.

The defendant had been employed as an environmental safety officer, working primarily on data centres under construction, but had not been working recently after being the victim of a serious assault in Derry the previous summer. He spent six weeks in hospital recovering from his injuries and was now due to resume employment in Scotland.

Mr Cleary asked the court to take these factors into account and urged Judge Grainne Malone not to impose a disqualification for the no insurance offence, noting that it was his client’s first offence of this nature. The solicitor also suggested that Mr Kelly’s friend had been “foolhardy” by giving him the keys of the uninsured Porsche.

In response, Judge Malone remarked that it was equally foolhardy of Mr Kelly not to ensure he was properly covered before driving it.

She also highlighted the potentially serious consequences of the incident, noting that colliding with gas cylinders could have had “very, very serious” implications.

Taking into account Mr Kelly’s early guilty plea and his previously clean record, Judge Malone imposed fines of €500 for the drink driving offence and €500 for driving without insurance, giving him six months to pay the total of €1,000.

A mandatory six-month driving disqualification was applied in respect of the drink driving conviction. However, the judge did not impose a further disqualification for the no insurance offence.

The court was informed that €200 cash bail was already lodged, and with the consent of the defence, this sum could be applied toward part payment of the fines.