A crash between two vehicles on Bective Bridge in November 2023 culminated in the arrest of an off-duty Garda for alleged drunken driving, Trim District Court was told. Joseph Rochford, with an address in Co Meath was charged with alleged drunken driving and careless driving on 27 th November 2023. The prosecuting barrister was Frank Martin and Mr Rochford was defended by barrister Liam O’Connell instructed by solicitor Martin Moran.
Garda Orla O’Brien gave evidence that she and Garda Paul Rushe went to the scene of the incident at 8.21pm. She saw damage to a silver Jaguar car which was owned by Joseph Rochford. Also at the scene were Mr James Dillon, the driver of the other vehicle and an unnamed male. She found Joseph Rochford standing at the entrance to Bective Mill about three metres inside the gate. She spoke to
him and he gave his name and address. She said she got a strong smell of intoxicating liquor. He said to her “Sorry, I’m f****d”, she said. He was leaning against a gate and his speech was “quite slurred”.
She came to the conclusion that the man was intoxicated to the extent where he would not have proper control over a vehicle and she had arrested him at 8.25pm. Asked if he was hurt, he said he was not “but was sad”. He told her that he had been in the Bective Bar and had consumed three pints.
She had brought him to Trim garda Station where he was introduced to the Garda in charge. His details were taken. She introduced him to Garda Purcell, a trained operator of the evidencer machine. A period of observation of Joseph Purcell had begun at 8.55 and ended at 9.15. The accused was brought to the doctor’s room but two attempts to give a breath sample failed. At
9.21pm a doctor was called and he arrived at Trim Garda Station at 10.05.In the doctor’s room the accused was offered the choice of giving a blood or urine sample and he opted for urine.
In the doctor’s room the doctor accompanied Joseph Rochford to the toilet area for the purpose of obtaining the sample of urine while she had stood in the doorway of the doctor’s room. Following the procedure she had offered accused the option of taking one of the urine samples and he had declined.
He had been charged and released. The urine sample had been posted to the Medical Bureau of Road Safety and a certificate returned to the Garda recorded a blood-urine reading of 284/100. Asked by barrister Mr O’Connell how she had come to write three statements about the incident, Garda O’Brien said she was asked by a superior officer to “re-read my original statement”. She had been told there were “omissions” from the statement. She was not told what these omissions were.
In making her statement she had referred to a “guide” which gave examples of statements. She did not know whether this was a guide or an official Garda document. The document was on the Garda portal. “It is a reference document”. The Garda also agreed that the doctor had written the name Joseph as “Joeseph” on a sticker placed on the urine sample container. She also said she had not offered the accused a particular urine sample of the two samples provided. Rather, he had been offered the option of taking either one. Mr O’Connell pointed to an entry in a form referring to the location where the urine sample had been taken. This section required the person filling out the form to state in which hospital the sample had been collected but the words “Trim Garda Station” had been written in that panel.
James Dillon, Bective told the court that he was driving from Clonard on a dark and wet night at speed of 30-40kph. He had driven onto Bective Bridge and an oncoming vehicle was in collision with his vehicle driving him into the wall of the bridge. He had called the Gardai. He had not spoken to Mr Rochford at the scene. Cross-examined by Mr O’Connell he agreed that it was “an awkward bridge to navigate”. There were no warning signs or road markings.
Judge Shalom Binchy said she would need written submissions in the case from the prosecuting barrister Mr Martin and the defence barrister Mr O’Connell and she would need these by 14th July next. The case was then adjourned to the same court on 22nd July.
