Bunninadden man, 25, mentioned ‘deal’ three times following arrest

A BUNNINADDEN man who was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving told a garda in the patrol car that “a deal could be done” on three occasions, Sligo District Court was told. Alan Clarke, 25, of Roadstown, Bunninadden, had denied a charge of drunk driving at Ballinvalley, Ballymote, on September 20 last year. Garda Patrick Ruddy told the court that he got a report of an alleged drink driver who was travelling from Tubbercurry to Achonry. At Achonry Church, the garda noticed a vehicle approaching him which did not dip its lights on a narrow road.

The garda pulled in to let the other vehicle pass and he could see the driver’s window was down. He followed the vehicle, which, he said, almost hit the ditch twice.

The garda spoke to the driver, who, he said, was intoxicated.

The garda gave evidence of the arrest charge and caution of the defendant, who stumbled and had to be linked to the garda patrol car. The garda said that while in the back of the car, the defendant said on two occasions, “a deal can be done here” . The defendant later repeated that a deal could be done.

His subsequent alcohol breath reading was 75mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

Defence counsel for the defendant Liam O’Connell, instructed by solicitor Mark Mullaney in cross-examination, asked about the protocal used by gardaí, as it was during a pandemic. The garda said he was wearing a mask and any person who was in a car would be offered a mask. Mr O’Connell asked the garda how often he washed his hands and what he used to wash them with.

The garda said that he felt uncomfortable with that question.

Garda Ruddy confirmed that he washed his hands with hand sanitiser. Mr O’Connell said that sanitiser has a high level of alcohol.

As a result, the barrister asked if it were possible that some alcohol got on the device, as the garda used his bare hands on the machine before the defendant gave his samples.

The garda replied that the machines are built to recognise any contaminants before they are used and a doctor or a nurse would be asked to get a blood or urine sample.

Mr O’Connell asked for a direction on two points.

The first one was that there was a gap in the formation of the opinion by the garda.

The garda had formed the opinion that the defendant was intoxicated. He later added that the defendant was drunk to such an extent as to be incapable of driving a mechanically propelled vehicle.

The second point was that there was a lot of alcohol in the hand sanitiser and Garda Ruddy had used his bare hands on the mouthpiece of the device used so there was room for a reasonable doubt.

Inspector Pat Harney said the garda had given evidence of how he formed his opinion and the machine was able to detect any contaminants.

Judge Deirdre Gearty said she was satisfied that the garda had not made a leap in the formation of his opinion and she was satisfied with his evidence.

The garda had given evidence that the defendant’s speech was slurred and he smelled of alcohol and that led him to form his opinion. So, the judge said, there was no real leap.

On the second point, the judge said the possibility of the hand sanitiser having any effect was just speculation and there was no supporting evidence. The court was told the defendant was a farmer who had no previous convictions and the loss of his licence would affect his livelihood.

Judge Gearty fined the defendant €500 and banned him from driving for three years.

She postponed the driving ban to permit the defendant to make other arrangements.