A young Carrigart man tried to climb a fence into a GAA ground in an attempt to flee gardai has been handed a three-year driving ban.
Matthew Shields was put off the road following his appearance at Letterkenny District Court.
Shields, a 23-year-old of Main Street, Carrigart, was more than four times the legal limit when he provided a sample after being arrested and taken to Milford Garda Station.
Shields drew the attention of gardai when he failed to turn off his headlight beams as he approached a garda car coming in the opposite direction. Gardai, who flashed the lights to Shields in a signal to dim his headlights, were forced to nearly slow to a halt.
Gardai turned and followed Shields’ white Kia Ceed. The court heard that Shields, who was not insured, took off at speed, executing the 80km/h limit as he drove into the village of Downings.
Garda evidence said that Shields pulled into the back of a hotel before exiting the car and running around the building. There, he attempted to climb a wire fence into the adjacent Downings GAA pitch, but was unable to do so.
Shields was apprehended and officers found a key which he had dropped beside him during his attempt to evade capture. Shields’ eyes were glazed, his speech was slurred and gardai detected a smell of intoxicating liquor when they caught up with the defendant.
Shields, who has no previous convictions, was handcuffed at 2.16am and taken to Milford Garda Station. After he was unable to provide a breath sample, he subsequently gave a specimen of urine which showed a concentration of 284 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of urine.
Gardai agreed with Mr Frank Dorrian, solicitor for Shields, that the accused man was “very compliant” following his arrest.
Mr Dorrian highlighted mistakes on dates of the certificate of postage and the cert relating to the urine test.
“We are clearly looking at different events – that disclosed was for a different date,” Mr Dorrian said.
“One way or another these are self-proving statutory documents, the documents are real evidence and real evidence is used as a grounding for prosecution and a basis for prosecution. Is this an acceptable standard for the prosecution of a criminal matter where dates are wrong in two fundamental ways and how is one to know what the sample refers to?”
In response, Inspector Tony Byrne said this amounted to a typographical error.
Judge Ciaran Liddy said he was satisfied that it was a typo and there was no prejudice flowing from this based on the totality of the evidence he had heard.
Shields had, therefore, a case to answer, said Judge Lindy.
Mr Dorrian said his client works for a solar panel company and his employment involves the necessity to drive. As a result, he sought a postponement of any disqualification the court might impose.
Judge Liddy disqualified Shields from driving for a period of three years from February 1, 2025. Shields was fined €250 and given three months to pay. He was also fined €150 for driving without insurance.