A Cork motorist who caused "life-altering injuries" to a woman in a head-on collision after he had drank alcohol has had a 10-year driving ban cut by three years on appeal.
In May 2021, a sentencing judge described the collision as being "like a bomb exploding" when he jailed Paul Coen for four years with the last year suspended and banned him from driving for 10 years. Coen was also sentenced to six months' imprisonment for failing to provide a urine or blood sample to gardaí.
“I am very concerned about this man ever driving again given the nature of his problem. Given this man’s stability, or lack of it, I don’t think he is a candidate for the open road,” Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
