Driver fined after being found drunk with pants undone

Gardaí who followed a driver whose car swerved erratically across a road on St Valentine’s night found him drunk with his trousers undone.

Gardaí stopped Melvyn Russell and his wife Donna after they noticed his Renault Laguna car swerve near the village of Drumkeen in Co Donegal.

Mr Russell, aged 42, and his wife Donna had been out for a meal earlier that night and had returned because Mrs Russell was feeling unwell. However, he went out again to see a friend who was living alone.

On his way to his home at Trentabuoy in Drumkeen, Mr Russell was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving just after 4.30am on February 15, 2014.

Gardaí had followed the vehicle and found it pulled into a dead end road at Stralongford where they spoke to the couple.

Garda Michael Kilcoyne said he spoke to Russell and got the smell of drink from him, he was unsteady on his feet, his trousers were undone and he was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving.

Garda Kilcoyne told Mr Russell he was being arrested but the accused man became annoyed and asked gardaí if they “had nothing better to be doing?”

Mr Russell was handcuffed and put in the patrol car and taken to Letterkenny Garda station.

Garda Sinead Kelly also gave evidence she noticed Mr Russell’s “pants were open” and his wife was in the car beside him when the couple were stopped.

Giving his evidence, Mr Russell told Letterkenny District Court admitted that he had been drinking but denied that he had been driving erratically.

He denied his trousers had been open or undone when he was stopped by gardaí claiming “My trousers were not undone. My buckle was broken on my belt.”

The father-of-three said he was also annoyed his wife had been left alone, a mile from home and forced to walk home by gardaí.

The court heard how gardaí said they could not leave Mrs Russell in the couple’s car as she had also been drinking.

Mrs Russell revealed how she had mistakenly left her mobile phone in her husband’s car and was forced to walk over a kilometre to her home in a dress and high heels in the snow.

The arresting gardaí admitted it had been very cold on the night but denied it was snowing.

Garda Inspector Goretti Sheridan said it had been unfortunate that Mrs Russell had been left alone to make her own way home but said that gardaí did not have a “duty of care” to taxi members of the public home.

Judge Paul Kelly said he was satisfied by the version of events given by gardaí.

He said it was unfortunate that Mrs Russell had been left on the side of the road on a dark night but said that it had been pointed out that gardaí do not operate a taxi service.

“What put Mrs Russell in this position were the actions of Mr Russell in insisting on driving his vehicle with a considerable amount of drink taken,” he said.

He fined Mr Russell €350 for drink driving and disqualified him from driving for two years and struck out the dangerous driving charge.

“I believe the ingredients for a charge of dangerous driving have been made but in view of fact that I have found him guilty of drink driving I will strike it out,” he said.