Man found 'slumped in passenger seat didn't know if it was day or night'

A man found “slumped” in the passenger seat of a vehicle and who didn’t know whether it was morning or night, was convicted of drink driving at Nenagh District Court.

Brendan Wood, 30, of Carrowbaun, Killaloe, county Clare, pleaded not guilty to drink driving at Lissenhall, Nenagh, on May 23, 2021.

Garda Sandra Gartland told the court that she was on patrol when she received a message from the Garda control centre at 8.25am of a vehicle that was being driven erratically at Lissenhall, Nenagh.

She subsequently received an updated call to say the vehicle was now stopped and parked with its hazard lights on.

She located the vehicle at 8.35am. It was facing towards Fivealley, Nenagh; its hazard lights were on and it was parked in the middle of the roadway blocking other users.

Garda Gartland said that there was a male “slumped on the passenger side” and when she opened the driver’s door she got a strong smell of alcohol.

She tried to engage with the man but he did not reply.

“He was tired, his eyes were red and bloodshot. He seemed dazed and his actions were slow,” she said.

Garda Gartland identified Mr Wood from his age card.

There were no keys in the ignition and Mr Wood told her that the keys were under the driver’s seat.

Asked if he had been driving, Mr Wood replied: “I’m not sure. It could have been me. It was just me in the car.”

The garda said Mr Wood told her he had “a few drinks and maybe weed” a few hours earlier and he was coming from a friend’s house.

“He was quite disorientated and unaware of his surroundings,” said Garda Gartland.

“He thought it was night. He was shocked when I informed him it was morning,” she said.

Garda Gartland told the court there were bottles of alcohol on the back seat along with a wallet belonging to a lady.

There were also medical needles in the car but Mr Wood explained that he was a diabetic.

The garda formed an opinion that Mr Wood was intoxicated and incapable of having proper control of a vehicle in a public place.

A subsequent test showed Mr Wood had 125mgs of alcohol per 100mls of blood.

Garda Aisling Dunne gave evidence of Mr Wood asking if it were “day or night?”

“He appeared confused and thought it was nighttime,” she said.

Mr Wood had told her he had been drinking “hours ago”.

Kenny Kerins, BL, for Mr Wood, submitted to the court that there was no evidence that his client had been drinking. He was in the passenger seat when the vehicle was located.

There had been no admission of driving and the statement “it could have been me”, was not an admission.

Mr Kerins also said that there had been no evidence of any intention to drive.

However, Judge Paul Kelly, president of the District Court, said that Mr Wood’s comments were “tantamount to an admission”.

Judge Kelly fined Mr Wood €200 and disqualified him from driving for two years.

He fixed recognizance in Mr Wood’s own bond of €200.