Drink driving case against Niall Quinn ‘likely to proceed’

MISSING documents relating to a drink driving prosecution of former soccer star Niall Quinn are unlikely to prevent the case from going ahead, gardaí said yesterday.

An internal garda investigation has been set up to determine what documents are missing and how they came to be mislaid. The arresting garda, who is attached to the Dublin Traffic Unit at Dublin Castle, will be interviewed as part of the investigation.

Niall Quinn was arrested by the garda on suspicion of drink driving on the M50 in west Dublin last Friday night. The former Republic of Ireland striker was stopped by the traffic officer after a motorist rang gardaí regarding a car driving in an allegedly erratic manner on the motorway.

The 39-year-old’s car was stopped by the garda, who arrested him on suspicion of drink driving. He was taken to Blanchardstown Garda Station where he gave a breath sample into an intoxiliser, which printed off three copies of the results.

The copies were signed by the arresting garda and Mr Quinn. The garda kept two copies, while the former Premiership player kept a third copy.

Sources yesterday said Mr Quinn co-operated in every way with gardaí. A garda spokesman yesterday confirmed some documents relating to the case had gone missing.

“Gardaí are investigating how papers related to the investigation of a road traffic offence were mislaid at a Dublin garda station,” he said. A spokesman said gardaí still had two copies of the intoxiliser printout and the custody record of Mr Quinn’s time in the station.

The custody record notes Mr Quinn’s personal details as well as a record of his time in the station. It is understood some notes taken by the garda in relation to the matter were mislaid from the investigating file.

Assistant Commissioner Al McHugh, who is in charge of policing in Dublin, set up an investigation on learning of what happened. He appointed a senior officer from a district outside Blanchardstown to carry out an inquiry.

Garda sources pointed out yesterday that notes or papers can often go missing.

“Things can happen. You put down papers and then pick up different papers or put them in the wrong file or someone else could pick them up by accident,” said one source. Garda sources said too much was being made out of the matter and that the prosecution would not be affected.

However, lawyers for Mr Quinn could, if directed by the well-liked footballer, contest the case on the basis of missing documentation. Fine Gael justice spokesman Jim O’Keeffe said he was very concerned by the loss of the material and hoped the internal garda investigation would establish how it came to be mislaid.