Actress Kate O'Toole banned for three years for drink-driving

ACTRESS KATE O'Toole has been banned after having been caught driving at more than three times the legal limit.

The 47-year-old star of The Tudors has been disqualified from driving for three years and fined €500.

She was arrested after she crashed her car on the way home from a pub last December in Clifden, Co Galway.

The daughter of Peter O'Toole and Sian Phillips reacted by telling the arresting garda that it was "a fair cop".

O'Toole, star of Dancing at Lughnasa, Possession, 32A and John Huston's last film, The Dead, was not present in Clifden District Court yesterday when she was convicted.

Instead she sent an e-mail to the court, through her solicitor, explaining that she is currently working in London.

Garda Rory Keating said he arrested O'Toole on suspicion of drink-driving on December 13th last year. She had been involved in a single-vehicle crash in her nine-year-old car on the Sky Road, just outside Clifden.

Garda Keating said O'Toole, Eyrephort, Clifden, admitted to "having a few glasses of wine" in the pub.

A blood sample found that she was more than three times over the legal drink-drive limit.

Garda Keating said her insurance, licence and other papers were in order. Supt Tony O'Donnell said she did not have any previous convictions.

Judge Mary Fahy disqualified her from driving for three years and fined her €500.

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times