Witness thought drunk driver had hit a workman, Tipperary court hears

A Cashel man who crashed his van into traffic cones while intoxicated has been given a three-year driving ban at Thurles District Court.

Martin O’Reilly (51) of Synone, Boherlahan, Cashel, was charged with drink driving and two counts of careless driving at Pouldine, Thurles on September 21, 2022.

Witness Amy O’Brien told the court that on the day of the accident, she was driving out of Thurles on the Horse and Jockey road toward the motorway.

As she approached the service station in Turtualla, a red van pulled out in front, driving “ridiculously slowly”.

Ms O’Brien told the court that the van hit a verge, and at one point at Turtulla Cross, swerved over the white line in front of another car.

There were at the time, major road works at the crossroads at Pouldine.

Ms O’Brien said a workman could be seen fixing cones at a stop sign.

The van “slowed” to avoid colliding with him, but went past the stop sign, before coming to a halt.

Ms O’Brien told the court she got out of her vehicle to check on the workman, who she thought had been struck by the van, which he had not.

She observed a middle-aged man and a small dog in the van.

Ms O’Brien then called the gardaí.

Acting for the defendant, JJ Fitzgerald asked the witness if she could identify the man and if the roadworks were well sign posted.

Ms O’Brien said she could identify the man and that he was in court that day.

She said these were major road works and that there was “proper signage” leading up to them.

Mr Fitzgerald asked the witness if it was a major collision.

“As I said, he slowed down, so thankfully no, but he did move some cones,” said Ms O’Brien.

OPEN CANS

Garda Damien Burke said he was on patrol on the day of the incident with Garda Rachel Brogan when they received a report of a possible drunk driver heading toward the Horse and Jockey.

At the scene, he observed a red van matching the registration number in the report, which had “gone beyond the stop sign and come to a halt”.

When he went to the driver’s side door, he saw the man in the driver’s seat, a number of open cans in the well, as well as an unopened pack of cans and a bottle of vodka on the backseat.

The man gave his name as Martin O’Reilly and produced his licence.

The garda said he administered a roadside breath test, which resulted in a fail.

Garda Burke told the court he arrested Mr O’Reilly, who had to be assisted to the garda car.

At Thurles Garda Station, the defendant gave a breath sample that read 118 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

Mr Fitzgerald argued that the guard had formed his opinion that his client was drunk before the roadside test, but there was a delay in actually carrying out the test.

Mr O’Reilly was detained during that time. Garda Burke said at the time, he was a probationary officer and had carried out what he believed was the correct procedure.

He would now, with experience, have administered the test without delay.

Judge Elizabeth MacGrath said she would not consider the detention too long, and if the argument was a breach of constitutional rights, she does not agree.

“I would not go with you on that one Mr Fitzgerald,” said Judge MacGrath.

Mr Fitzgerald confirmed with the guard that his client had been cooperative otherwise.

Garda Burke said he had been cooperative overall except for a little bit of abuse he levelled at Garda Brogan.

ACCIDENT-PRONE AREA

Mr Fitzgerald argued that some of the witness evidence had been inconsistent in terms of direction and that no photos had been provided.

Judge MacGrath clarified with Mr Fitzgerald that the evidence was that he swerved over the white line.

Acting for the prosecution, Inspector James White said that was the case and that it had been an accident in an “accident-prone area”.

Judge MacGrath noted the evidence and said she was satisfied the threshold for both drink driving and careless driving had been met.

Mr Fitzgerald told the court in mitigation that his client was a single man on disability allowance for a serious skin condition.

The loss of his licence would mean he would struggle to manage his situation.

However, Judge MacGrath said for the concentration of alcohol found, there was a minimum disqualification period.

For the charge of drink driving, the judge imposed a three-year driving disqualification and a €400 fine. She gave him eight months to pay the fine.

For the two counts of careless driving, the judge imposed two €200 fines with ten months to pay.