Motorist drove van while five times over the limit, Carlow court heard
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A MORORIST who drove while almost five times over the legal alcohol limit was disqualified from driving for three years by Judge Catherine Ryan at a recent Carlow District Court sitting.
Keith Brennan (44) Chapel Lane, Moneenroe, Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny was observed in a white van driving ‘erratically’ by a member of the public on 26 October 2024.
Witness Paul Telford saw the defendant pulling out of a shop onto the wrong side of the road in Clonbroch, Crettyard, Co Laois. Over the next five minutes, Mr Telford saw him “swerve all over the road, from ditch to ditch”, narrowly missing oncoming traffic. He rang gardaí at 5.45pm, notifying them of the drunk-driver and continued to follow the van for another ten minutes or so, according to his evidence in court.
The defendant then pulled into Fleming’s pub in Crettyard and clipped the wall, damaging his wing mirror. Mr Telford and another car containing a woman and young child blocked him against the wall and took his keys off him. He (Mr Telford) rang gardaí a second time to update them on the situation and their location, and waited for them to arrive.
In his evidence, Mr Telford said it was getting dark at the time and there was “noticeable traffic”. He approached Mr Brennan, noticed his speech was slurred and could smell alcohol. Mr Telford claimed the defendant asked: “Did I hit you” and “Are the guards on the way?”
Garda Matthew McGrath said he received a call after 5.30pm in relation to Mr Brennan’s vehicle, a white Ford Transit Connect, travelling from Carlow towards Castlecomer on the R430. He arrived at the scene at approximately 6.10pm and the defendant handed over his driving licence. Mr Brennan was the sole occupant of the van.
Garda McGrath said there was a “smell of alcohol from the accused’s breath and he was stumbling as he was standing up”. After cautioning the defendant, he arrested him at 6.15pm on suspicion of committing an offence contrary to section 4 (1, 2, 3 or 4) of the , namely driving while intoxicated.
The defendant told Garda McGrath that he had been drinking before getting into his vehicle.
At the station, Garda Dillon Mulloney conducted an observation period. They were not able to get an alcohol level reading from the breath machine as the defendant is asthmatic.
He returned to the custody suite at 7.45pm. The doctor was again contacted at 8.35pm and he arrived five minutes later. The doctor took a blood specimen from Mr Brennan at 8.45pm, which, after being sent for analysis three days later, found his blood alcohol level to be 249mg per 100ml blood.
It was this blood sample that formed the basis of solicitor Chris Hogan’s defence of his client.
Section 4(2)(a) of the requires that a blood sample to measure levels of intoxication be taken within three hours of the commission of the driving offence. Mr Hogan argued that the first phone call to gardaí was before 5.45pm and, therefore, the sample taken at 8.45pm fell outside the three-hour limit.
Judge Catherine Ryan took the state’s view that Mr Telford was sure he had made a call at 5.45pm as he remembered looking at the time and also that the defendant must have continued driving for some minutes after the first call. This meant the sample was taken within three hours of the offence.
“It’s very much on a knife edge in terms of timing here. I do not consider it is inherently weak or tenuous on the basis of the evidence given by Mr Telford. It’s very much on the cusp of being outside the three hours, but I do not believe that it is,” said Judge Ryan, convicting Mr Brennan of the charge of driving while intoxicated and a second charge of dangerous driving contrary to section 53 of the .
Regarding factors affecting the severity of the sentence, Mr Hogan said that his client admitted to having an alcohol misuse problem and voluntarily attended residential treatment after the incident.
“He instructs me that he has remained sober since leaving treatment,” said Mr Hogan.
He further noted that his client was involved in a local boxing club and had returned to employment in a factory in Castlecomer that week after taking leave while in treatment. Mr Brennan had no previous convictions.
“That is very much to his credit that he went to a 12-week programme – it’s not an easy thing to do. The court wishes him well,” said Judge Ryan. “Nobody came to harm and no previous and that, in fairness, is a good outcome in a bad situation.”
Following the mandatory disqualification thresholds, she disqualified the defendant from driving for three years for drunk-driving and two years concurrently for dangerous driving. She also fined him a total of €700, giving him six months to pay, and fixed recognisance at €300.
