BY DAVID FORSYTHE
THE case against a man who admitted crashing his car on a country road near Macroom was dismissed at a recent sitting of the local court.
The State’s case against Conor Kelleher, 26, of Coolcaum, Kilnamartyra, alleged that he was guilty of careless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol at Carriganine, Macroom in the early hours of December 22nd 2021.
The court was told that a local resident was awoken by a ‘loud bang’ outside his house in Carriganine at approximately 2am.
Giving evidence, the householder said that he got dressed and went outside to investigate.
He said that outside he saw a white Audi A4 with its hazard lights on that had crashed into a telephone pole.
There was nobody in the car, but he did observe a person walking towards Macroom about 100m away.
He told the court that it was a wet night and he could not tell if the person was male or female.
Garda Alan O’Donoghue from Macroom Garda was on patrol that night when he responded to a report of a single-vehicle accident where the driver had left the scene.
He said that en route to the incident he came across Conor Kelleher walking in the middle of the road, adding that Mr Kelleher had a cut on his forehead.
Garda O’Donoghue said that Mr Kelleher told him he had crashed his car and accompanied him to the accident scene.
Garda O’Donoghue said that at the scene he observed a white Audi A4 that had clearly hit a ditch on one side of the road, before crashing into the telephone pole on the other side.
He said that there was extensive damage to the vehicle and the road was blocked.
Garda O’Donoghue said that he cautioned Mr Kelleher who confirmed it was his car and told him the accident had happened 10 to 15 minutes earlier.
Garda O’Donoghue said that Mr Kelleher’s eyes were glazed, he was unsteady on his feet and smelled of alcohol.
He said that Mr Kelleher told him he ‘had a few drinks’ at the Castle Hotel in Macroom earlier and the garda arrested him.
Mr Kelleher was taken to Macroom Garda Station where Garda Padraig Dennehy, who was on duty, said that Mr Kelleher had a key card for the Castle Hotel in Macroom in his possession.
He said that Mr Kelleher had said he had intended to stay at the hotel that night and then ‘for no reason’ decided to drive home.
He said that Mr Kelleher told him the injury was probably from hitting his head on the steering wheel.
As Mr Kelleher was bleeding, an ambulance was called.
He was taken to Cork University Hospital for treatment where local gardaí were requested to obtain a sample from Mr Kelleher but due to ‘medical and time constraints’ no sample was taken.
Defence barrister Michael Daly BL, acting for solicitor Sean Cahill, questioned whether Garda O’Donoghue’s notes were taken in compliance with ‘judges’ rules’ ie that the accused is cautioned before he is questioned and also whether Mr Kelleher had any opportunity to add to or amend his statement later.
He also questioned details relating to the timing of some of the notes.
Mr Daly said that the incident happened in poor conditions and that his client had only admitted that he had ‘lost control’ of the vehicle.
He said that Mr Kelleher was not seen by anyone driving on the night so it was impossible to say he was driving carelessly.
He said it was a ‘quantum leap’ to say his client had been driving carelessly as there was no evidence of him driving at all.
He added that there was no sample evidence and that the witness who saw somebody walking away could not even confirm if the person was male or female.
He said that the court was being asked to ‘fill in the gaps’ where in fact there was no evidence against Mr Kelleher and the State could not prove the case ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’.
Judge Adrian Harris rose for a short period to consider the arguments. The judge said that he would deem Garda O’Donoghue’s evidence admissible.
On the drink driving charge, he said that he had doubt that the link between intoxication and incapacity had been proven and dismissed the charge.
On the careless driving charge he said there was not sufficient evidence that Mr Kelleher had been driving carelessly, and also dismissed the charge.
