A Garda told Trim District Court that a 31-year-old man she had stopped at 2am in November 2021 began “sucking and blowing” on a breathalyser and failed to provide a specimen of his breath. Harry Hatton, Garadice, Kilcock appeared at the court charged with drunken driving and failure to give a specimen to a Garda at Garadice on 28 th November 2021.
Garda Munnelly told the court that she had put on lights and siren in order to get defendant to stop. She said he had travelled about 700 metres before his vehicle stopped. After defendant had failed to provide a specimen of breath she formed the opinion that he was intoxicated to such an extent that he could not have proper control over a vehicle and arrested him and then took him to Trim Garda Station. When he was tested on an evidencer machine at the Garda station he returned a reading of 47/100.
In reply to Court Presenter Sergeant Peter Clarke the Garda said that the reason for stopping defendant was that he had proceeded through a red light. Following evidence by Garda Munnelly and Sergeant Smith, defending barrister James O’Brien said he would not be making any submissions to the court. Judge Eirinn McKiernan convicted the defendant who has no previous convictions. She imposed a €200 fine and a two-year driving disqualification.
