A solicitor representing a Doochary man charged with drink-driving said that his client’s case should have been struck out – arguing that the clock had run out on the checkpoint.
However, Judge Éiteáin Cunningham ruled that Mark McCready, who was more than three-and-a-half times the legal limit on the night in question, had a case to answer and convicted him.
McCready, a 21 year-old of Radharc An Seipeal, Doochary, was disqualified from driving for three years when he appeared before Letterkenny District Court.
The court heard evidence from Garda Peter McGee, who told Inspector Tony Byrne that he was detailed to perform a mandatory intoxicant testing (MIT) checkpoint at Canal Road, Letterkenny between 1am and 1.20am on January 28, 2024. The authorisation form for the checkpoint was submitted to the court.
Garda McGee told that while performing the checkpoint he stopped a black Toyota Avensis and spoke with the driver, now known to him as McCready.
Garda McGee said the driver’s eyes were glazed and he detected a strong smell of an intoxicant from the car. A breath specimen provided at the roadside by McCreaty resulted in a fail and he was subsequently cautioned and conveyed to Letterkenny Garda Station.
When McCready provided two samples of his breath at the Garda station, a concentration of 80 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath was confirmed.
At 2.44am, McCready was charged with drink-driving and released on station bail.
Mr Frank Dorrian, solicitor for McCready said the garda had written down the time as 01.20 as the time, which means that he spoke to the driver either on or after 01.20.
“According to the note, at that time the checkpoint is over,” Mr Dorrian said. “At 01:00 and one second, it’s off you go and at 01:19 and 59 seconds, it ends. It is ‘until’ 01:20 and that is the law.”
Garda McGee said the process of stopping a motorist in such a scenario is a ‘live situation’.
Mr Dorrian said that the checkpoint is over as soon as the clock turns 01:20.
He said: “Authorisations are precise. It is an exercise in precision.”
Mr Dorrian said the garda’s initial note recorded the time as 01:20 while he mentioned 01:19 as the time some weeks later.
“All I have to do is raise a reasonable doubt of any kind,” Mr Dorrian said. “The State must prove a case beyond reasonable doubt. To disprove, I just need to see that there is a reasonable doubt.
“If we are so close to the wire on a criminal process, then a standard of proof has to be to the highest standard.”
Inspector Byrne submitted to the court that the garda gave direct evidence that he made the stop at 1.19am, but accepted there was no note of that.
Having listened to the evidence given and the submissions made, Judge Cunningham said she accepted the evidence of the garda that he made the stop at 1.19am and that McCready had a case to answer.
Inspector Byrne said McCready was “extremely cooperative” on the night and has no previous convictions.
Judge Cunningham convicted McCready and fined him €200, allowing five months to pay. McCready was also disqualified from driving for a period of three years.
Recognisance, in the event of an appeal, was fixed at McCready’s own bond of €200.