Motorist fined and disqualified for drink driving in Louth

A motorist who was arrested on suspicion of drink driving after his van was driving 'unusually slowly' on the Castletown Road, lost a contested case at Dundalk district court last week and was fined €500 and disqualified from driving for three years.

Michael Fee (41) of Blackstaff, Inniskeen was charged following a traffic stop in the early hours of April 29th last year.

An observer in the patrol car gave evidence that Mr. Fee had swerved across the central white line several times and when he exited the Citroen Berlingo he had stumbled on the road before walking onto the footpath.

The witness said she arrested the defendant at 1.47am and brought him to Dundalk Garda Station where he underwent a breath test and the printout from the Evidenzer machine gave a reading of 90mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath, which is above the legal limit.

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Mr Fee refused to sign the document and did not take a copy of the printout (Section 13 statement).

The Defence barrister questioned the garda about another garda vehicle which was ahead of her on the Castletown Road, but she insisted she had Mr Fee's van in sight.

When it was put to her that it was her colleagues in the other vehicle who had brought the accused to a stop after the blue lights and sirens were activated, the garda said "I was the first to speak with him - we exited at the same time".

The barrister added he had instructions that she was just one of a number of gardai who were discussing matters with Mr Fee at the side of the road and it was alleged that she 'got the benefit' of other gardai questioning his client about his alcohol consumption.

The witness insisted his arrest was based on her observations and when the counsel claimed the garda who actually stopped Mr Fee "had the conversation with him" the garda replied "that conversation didn't happen" and she denied a suggestion that she was the "nominated officer to get the collar".

The lawyer applied for the case to be dismissed on the grounds that the Garda's direct evidence made no reference to the gardaí in the other vehicle being responsible for pulling his client over and it was extremely unlikely that they had had no interaction with him and asked how the court could accept her evidence as true and complete.

Insp. Martin Gallagher, strongly objected to that saying it was completely unfair to suggest the garda "has not said the truth" but Judge Nicola Andrews replied "I'll assess that".

After the judge said she was satisfied the evidence of arrest and detention was in order, the Defence barrister confirmed his client was not going to give evidence.

The court heard Mr. Fee had one previous drink driving conviction in 2005.

The lawyer said his client works as a plumber and is utterly dependent on his driving licence in terms of earning a livelihood to have the ability to work between various workplaces and its loss would be a very significant penalty and downstream there will be consequences of a severe financial nature.

Nothing his conviction "goes back to '05" Judge Andrews imposed a €500 fine and a three year disqualification and told the barrister "If he comes here again and there is an issue leading to any Road Traffic Act convictions the consequences will be dire for your client". Bail in the event of an appeal was fixed at €500 cash.