14 drink driving cases at risk due to language debacle

‘DISAPPOINTING’ Road Safety Officer, Noel Gibbons.

Ciara Galvin

A ROAD safety officer has said he hopes the possible dismissal of many drink driving cases across the county won’t send out the ‘wrong message’.
Noel Gibbons, Road Safety Officer with Mayo County Council, made the comments following the withdrawal of approximately 14 alleged drink driving cases by the State in courts in Mayo over the past two weeks.
The cases were withdrawn by the prosecution with the liberty to re-enter the matters following a High Court finding last September that breath test results conducted via the Evidenzer machine on people arrested on suspicion of drink driving must be issued in both English and Irish.
This is now referred to as the ‘Avadenei’ ruling, after District Court proceedings brought against a man in a Dublin court earlier this year for drink driving were dismissed after it was ruled that the document had not been ‘duly complete’ because of the failure to print in both English and Irish. The DPP argued in the District Court proceedings in Dublin that it was not required to print the form in two languages. The decision was then sent to the High Court for confirmation where High Court Judge Mr Justice Seamus Noonan said there was ‘no ambiguity’ in a law which says that gardaí – when performing an Evidenzer alcohol breath test – must supply statements in Irish and in English.

Appeal
It is understood that the DPP is now awaiting an appeal to the Supreme Court, and the State last week asked Judge Mary Devins to adjourn a number of drink driving cases to await a decision of the appeal. However, Judge Devins said: ‘Even if the appeal has been lodged it doesn’t act as a ‘stay’ on the High Court ruling’.
“At this stage the High Court ruling by Judge Noonan is the law of the land. What I feel is not to adjourn these cases pending the appeal, but to give all cases a date for hearing in the near future.”
Following this, prosecution for the State in two Mayo courts withdrew approximately 14 cases in total for drink driving in courts last week. Judge Devins then indicated that each case would be given a date for hearing in ‘the near future’.
Judge Devins said all cases would be given a date for hearing ‘with the High Court judgement in mind’ and that the matters would then be put to the State ‘to argue’.
Speaking to The Mayo News, Mr Gibbons described the possible dismissal of the cases as ‘disappointing’.
“It’s disappointing especially after all the hard work of the gardaí, and I hope it will not send out the wrong message to drivers that it’s OK to drive after consuming alcohol.”
The Road Safety Officer said drinking alcohol was still a ‘major contributory factor of road deaths and injuries’.
“It’s a matter for the courts to make these decisions. It’s the lucky ones that are stopped and the unlucky ones that go on to be involved in fatal collisions. Going on recent victim impact statements we see the devastation caused,” concluded Mr Gibbons.

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