A MAN who told gardaí he had three pints on the night he was arrested for drink driving has failed in a bid to avoid conviction on a technicality.
Court presenter Insp Anthony Harrington told Macroom District Court that Michael O’Sullivan, 37, of Dangansallagh, Ballymakeera, was stopped by gardaí in Clondrohid at 9.35pm on June 25th 2023.
Garda Liam Galvin told the court that he observed a blue Kia Sportage driving very slowly and then swerving in the middle of the road. Gda Galvin said the car then turned without indicating and took the corner too widely, ending up on the wrong side of the road. Gda Galvin said that the vehicle was pulled over and that the driver, Michael O’Sullivan, said: ‘Lads I had three pints, can you let me go?’
Mr O’Sullivan was taken to Macroom Garda Station. Sgt Thomas Lehane told the court that he performed a breathalyser test on Mr O’Sullivan at the station which gave a reading of 106mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath, more than twice the legal limit of 50mg.
Defence counsel Michael Daly BL argued that Sgt Lehane had not recorded the statutory 20-minute waiting period in his notebook before the breath test was carried out. He also argued that Sgt Lehane could not have observed his client properly during the 20 minutes to ensure he had not taken anything by mouth because he was busy inputting information into the machine.
Sgt Lehane said that the 20-minute waiting period was a minimum and it could be inferred from the time Mr O’Sullivan was booked in, to the time of the breathalyser reading, that the period was observed. He added that he was in a small room with Mr O’Sullivan and could observe him easily and added that Mr O’Sullivan had told him he had ‘a few pints’ and he also smelled of alcohol.
Judge Philip O’Leary said that he was swayed by the evidence of Sgt Lehane and the custody record. He convicted Mr O’Sullivan and fined him €350 with four months to pay. Mr O’Sullivan was also disqualified from driving for three years.
