Gardai who followed a driver whose car swerved erratically across a road on St Valentine’s night found him drunk with his trousers undone.
Gardai stopped the man and his wife after they noticed his car swerve near the village of Drumkeen.
The man, who is in his 40s, and his wife, had been out for a meal earlier that night, had returned because she was feeling unwell but went out again to see a friend who was living alone.
On his way to his home near the village of Drumkeen, he was arrested by Gardai on suspicion of drink-driving just after 4.30am on February 15th, 2014.
Gardai had followed the vehicle and found it pulled into a dead end road at Stralongford where they spoke to the couple.
Garda Michael Kilcoyne said he spoke to the man and got the smell of drink from him, he was unsteady on his feet, his trousers were undone and he was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving.
Garda Kilcoyne told the man he was being arrested but the accused man became annoyed and asked Gardai if they “had nothing better to be doing?”
He was handcuffed and put in the patrol car and taken to Letterkenny Garda station.
Garda Sinead Kelly also gave evidence that she noticed the man’s “pants were open” and his wife was in the car beside him when the couple were stopped.
Giving his evidence the accused man told Letterkenny District Court admitted that he had been drinking but denied that he had been driving erratically.
He denied that his trousers had been open or undone when he was stopped by Gardai claiming “My trousers were not undone – my buckle was broken on my belt.”
The man said he was also annoyed that his wife had been left alone, a mile from home and forced to walk home by Gardai.
The court heard how Gardai said they could not leave the woman in the couple’s car as she had also been drinking.
The woman revealed how she had mistakenly left her mobile phone in her husband’s car and was forced to walk a mile to her home in a dress and high-heels in the snow.
The arresting Gardai admitted that it had been very cold on the night but denied that it was snowing.
Garda Inspector Goretti Sheridan said it had been unfortunate that the accused man’s wife had been left alone to make her own way home but said that Gardai did not have a “duty of care” to taxi members of the public home.
Judge Paul Kelly said he was satisfied by the version of events given by Gardai in the case.
He added that it was unfortunate that the accused man had been left on the side of the road on a dark night but said it had been pointed out that Gardai do not operate a taxi service.
And he added “What put XXX in this position were the actions of XXXXX in insisting on driving his vehicle with a considerable amount of drink taken.”
He fined the accused man €350 for drink driving and disqualified him from driving for two years and struck out the dangerous driving charge.
“I believe the ingredients for a charge of dangerous driving have been made but in view of fact that I have found him guilty of drink driving I will strike it out,” he said.