A MAN who was arrested on suspicion that he intended to drive his car while over the drink driving limit had the case against him dismissed at a recent sitting of Bandon District Court.
Inspector Kay O’Donoghue told the court that on June 18th 2023 gardaí in Bandon received a call about a car that was revving excessively in the Chapel Street area.
Giving evidence Garda Sean O’Connor said he arrived at the scene at Mill Race Mews at 3.55am where he observed a black Volvo V40 with the engine revving excessively loudly with the lights on.
He approached the car and saw a male in the driver seat later identified as Levente Nagy-Vigh, 37, of Mill Race Mews, Bandon.
Mr Vigh had his seatbelt on and appeared to be asleep and had his head slumped on his shoulder while leaning against the driver’s window.
His foot was pressing on the accelerator pedal and the engine was warm and the rev counter was in the red.
Gda O’Connor knocked on the window but Mr Vigh did not wake up so the garda then opened the door and tapped him on the shoulder but eventually had to shake Mr Vigh to wake him.
Gda O’Connor said he asked Mr Vigh if he required medical assistance and that Mr Vigh then took his foot off the accelerator pedal and tried to put the car in gear.
Gda O’Connor turned off the engine.
He said: ‘Mr Vigh wasn’t making any sense. I asked him for his ID and he exited the vehicle to try and get his driving licence from his pocket. He was very unsteady on his feet and there was a strong smell of intoxicating liquor.’
Gda O’Connor said he formed the opinion that Mr Vigh was incapable of having proper control of the vehicle and he arrested him and took him to Bandon Garda Station.
A blood test at the station showed that Mr Vigh had a blood alcohol level of 182 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, more than three times the legal limit.
Mr Vigh told the court that he had been drinking a Hungarian spirit in the house and listening to Hungarian country music that night.
He said that his wife and eight-year-old daughter had become annoyed at the noise he was making and told him to go out to the car if he wanted to listen to his music and that was why he was in the car when Gda O’Connor found him. He told the court that he had no intention off driving anywhere and was only 20 metres from his front door when he was arrested.
Mr Vigh’s wife also gave evidence and confirmed that she had told her husband to go out to the car.
She told the court that he was not abusive and that he was a hard worker who provided for his family.
She said that he was quite drunk on the night in question but she did not believe that her husband intended to drive anywhere.
Defence solicitor Éamonn Fleming said that he believed that there was no evidence to show Mr Vigh intended to drive that night.
He said that his client was originally from Hungary but had been living in Ireland for five years and was in full-time employment.
Judge William Aylmer said that the defence had successfully rebutted the prosecution argument.
He said that it was not clear how long Mr Vigh had been in the car and there was no evidence he had intent to drive anywhere before 3am.
He said it would be unsafe to convict and dismissed the charges.
