Half bottle of vodka found in car of man who was drink-driving

A Letterkenny man who had a half bottle of vodka in his glove compartment when stopped by Gardai has been put off the road for four years.

Martin Ward appeared before Letterkenny District Court charged with drink-driving.

Garda Kerry Leneghan told the court that she received a report of a drink driver on the inbound land of Letterkenny dual carriageway at 4.15pm on August 8th, 2021.

When she stopped the driver of a Vauxhall Astra, she noticed that his speech was slurred and she got a strong smell of alcohol from him.

The man gave his name as Martin Ward of Ard na Ri, Long Lane, Letterkenny.

Ward, who is aged 70 years, was taken to Letterkenny Garda station.

A nurse was called and a blood sample was taken from the accused with his permission.

An analysis of the sample was sent to the Medical Bureau of Road Safety and it returned a reading of 160 micrograms of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood.

Solicitor for the accused, Mr Patsy Gallagher, said his client was his own worst enemy and that the majority of his problems were as a result of alcohol abuse.

He added that Mr Ward is normally a very pleasant man to deal with and that since this incident two years ago he has not come to the attention of the Gardai.

The court was told that the accused has 19 previous convictions which were mostly all for road traffic offences.

Judge Éiteáin Cunningham convicted the accused and fined him €250 allowing him six months to pay.

She said she accepted the previous convictions were historic and disqualified Ward from driving for four years.