Man claims Kerry garda gave him chips while waiting for drink-driving test

The judge said he has heard a lot of drink-driving cases 'and this is a first'

Tue, 30 Jan, 2024 - 11:43

Anne Lucey

A 78-year-old Kerry man claimed a garda who told him to cheer up and "gave me chips" while he was waiting for a drink-driving test in Tralee.

The judge said the claim was "a first" for him and he could not believe it. The garda, the member in charge on the night, said she never ate chips.

Daniel Shanahan of Tullig, Kilflynn, Tralee, was disqualified from driving for two years at Killarney District Court. He is to appeal the conviction.

Sitting Judge David Waters said he had heard a lot of drink-driving cases over the years, "and this is a first", he said of the man's claim he was given chips to eat during the 20-minute ‘nil by mouth’ observation and fasting period.

Consumption of food during the observation period would interfere with the test, the defence said.

Mr Shanahan had been celebrating his 78th birthday on June 27, 2023. He was on his way home from Tralee when observed to be driving without a seat belt by garda David O’Neill at Knocknahila, Kilflynn, shortly before 8pm.

When stopped there was a smell of alcohol and the driver had slurred speech and glassy eyes, Garda O’Neill told the court. The reading was 47 micrograms per 100 mls of breath.

Hernia

Asked about Mr Shanahan’s driving, the garda said this was "okay"; what drew his attention was not wearing a seat belt, the garda said.

"He couldn’t wear a seat belt because he had a hernia," Richard Liston, defending, put it to Garda O’Neill. Garda O’Neill, who the court heard kept detailed notes, said he could not recall having been told about a hernia and had no note of it.

Mr Shanahan said he had a serious hernia and was scheduled for surgery. He was told not to put any strain on it and so he had difficulty with the breath test and had told the gardaí. "I asked on numerous occasions for a blood test," he said.

He was seeing four different doctors for four different ailments and was on six prescription drugs yet this had not been recorded in the station. "I would like someone to explain that to me," he said.

The member in charge at Tralee Garda Station, Garda Leanne Houseman, told Inspector Eoin Donovan that had Mr Shanahan required a doctor to take a blood sample, she would have called one.

Chips

"No, I don’t eat chips," Garda Houseman replied to Mr Liston, when he put it to her that she had food with her, and had offered his client chips.

Judge Waters intervened to say he was being asked to believe someone was brought into custody on suspicion of drink-driving and the member in charge offered him chips. “This is a first,’’ the judge said.

Re-examined by Insp Donovan, Garda Houseman said she had started her shift at 7pm on the night and her meal break would be at 12.30am. "I don’t eat chips," Garda Houseman again told the court.

During the 20-minute observation period Mr Shanahan remarked to Garda Houseman he never thought he would end up at the station on his 78th birthday. She told him to "cheer up and said it’s not the end of the world," he told the court.

The garda was eating chips at the time and she offered him some. "The judge and everyone thinks this is outrageous but it did happen," Mr Shanahan insisted. "The truth 'is sometimes stranger than fiction," he added.

Examined by Insp Donovan, he said he was celebrating his birthday and had gone to Tralee to watch racing at a betting office and a friend came in and they went to the pub next door.

Asked about the chips, Mr Shanahan said: "It wasn’t a lot of chips — just a few." Judge Waters said he did not believe "for one minute" Mr Shanahan had been offered chips. He also managed to give a breath sample twice, the judge noted.

Mr Liston urged leniency as his client lived in a remote area. Judge Waters disqualified Mr Shanahan from driving for two years and fined him €300.

An appeal against the conviction was immediately lodged by Mr Shanahan's solicitor David Ramsay.