WOMAN’S DRINK-DRIVING CASE STRUCK OUT ON A TECHNICALITY

A CASE against a 39-year-old mother, accused of driving while over the legal alcohol limit, has been thrown out of court after Gardaí failed to submit a Section 15 certificate to the court.

Sarah O’Sullivan of New Quarter, Gneeveguilla, contested a charge that she drove while over the drink-driving limit at Inchicullane, Kilcummin, on September 9, 2022. She also denied driving carelessly on the same date.

Tralee District Court heard that postman Diarmuid Cahill had pulled in off the side of the road, then heard a ‘bang’. A car had overturned, and he saw a hand going up and down, out the driver’s window.

He and another individual helped at the scene, and he phoned 999, after which fire-service personnel and gardaí attended the scene of the one-vehicle collision. Ms O’Sullivan’s son was also in the car, the Court heard.

Ms O’Sullivan’s solicitor, Brendan Ahern, praised Mr Cahill for being a ‘Good Samaritan’ on the day. Mr Cahill confirmed to him that he did not see the crash itself and phoned emergency services at 12.41pm, within a minute of the incident. He no longer has a record of this but showed the time of the call to Gardaí while giving a statement at a later date.

When Gardaí arrived at the scene, Ms O’Sullivan and her young son, the only occupants of the vehicle, were uninjured. Ms O’Sullivan said she had looked back at the child when she hit a ditch and overturned.

Gardaí noticed a smell of intoxicating liquor from Ms O’Sullivan and described her demeanour as ‘dazed’. She failed a roadside breath-test and was conveyed to Killarney station, where she provided a blood sample at about 3.23pm.

The test subsequently returned a reading of 147 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

When the prosecution case closed, Mr Ahern pointed out to Judge Philip O’Leary that he had not received a Section 15 cert, and Judge O’Leary agreed to dismiss the case on those grounds.

While Gardaí said the Judge had heard evidence of Ms O’Sullivan looking back at her child while driving, Mr O’Leary said there was sufficient doubt to strike out the careless-driving charge also.