Drunk driving conviction overturned on appeal

An Arigna man who was convicted of drunk driving had his conviction overturned on appeal at Carrick-on-Shannon Circuit Court last week.

The appeal was brought by John Guihen, Derreenavoggy, Arigna, Co Roscommon who was convicted of drunk driving on July 28, 2018, at Derreenavoggy, Arigna.

Judge John Aylmer said he had to accede to an application by the defence counsel on the basis the arresting garda had not established that at least 20 minutes had elapsed between the time Mr Guihen had last consumed a drink and the administration of the roadside alcolyzer test, as is required.

Garda Aisling O'Brien, Roscommon Garda Station, gave evidence of being on patrol in the Arigna area with Garda Colm Barron on the evening of Friday, July 27 and the early hours of July 28 in 2018.

She noticed a vehicle pulling out of a car park near The Miner's Bar public house. She said it was stuttering and struggling to get up the hill.

They followed the car and she noticed it was weaving over and back on the roadway. She activated the blue beacon and stopped the car at Derreenavoggy.

She spoke to the driver, John Guihen, and noticed his eyes were watery and there was a strong smell of alcohol from him. He produced his licence which was in order.

She asked him if he had been drinking and he said he had drank six to eight large bottles of Bulmers. He said he only lived a short distance up the road.

Garda O'Brien said his speech was slurred and he failed a roadside breath test. She said when he stepped out of the car he was unsteady on his feet and she formed her opinion and arrested him on suspicion of drunk driving at 1.05am.

Mr Guihen was taken to Carrick-on-Shannon Garda Station, arriving at 1.37am.
He complied with the legal requirements and a breath test on him showed a reading of 68/100.

In cross examination, Garda O'Brien said she didn't ask Mr Guihen when he had last consumed a drink.
Garda Barron gave evidence of also seeing the car pull out from a car park near The Miner's Bar. He too said the vehicle was chugging and struggling up the hill, over and back across the two lanes.

Garda Barron said he also noted Mr Guihen was unsteady on his feet and had slurred speech.
He said they had no issues with him and he was a pleasure to deal with. They transported Mr Guihen home at 3.10am from the garda station.

Counsel for the defence, Liam O'Connell BL, instructed by John McNulty, solicitor, in making an application, raised the issue that the manufacturer's instructions for the roadside alcolyzer machine required a waiting period of 20 minutes between the last drink being consumed and the test being administered. This was not done, he stated, and said the results of the test were inadmissible.

Judge Aylmer said there were many indications of intoxication observed by Garda O'Brien but, for whatever reason, Garda O'Brien elected to perform the roadside test on the basis the defendant had pulled out of the car park near the pub shortly after drinking up time of 1am that morning and that he had admitted drinking eight pints of Bulmers.

He said Garda O'Brien relied on the roadside test to form her opinion but did not make enquiries that the defendant had consumed alcohol in the previous 20 minutes, to validate the test according to the instruction manual.
Judge Aylmer said the 20 minutes is necessary and he had to accede to the application and allow the appeal.