Drink driving charge dismissed on technicality

A drink driving charge has been dismissed on a technicality after it was heard a nurse may have made an error while taking a blood sample.
Judge Mary Devins dismissed a drink driving charge against Frank Conway of Liscunnell, Ballyheane, Castlebar, after hearing evidence from Mr Conway that a nurse shook her head and said ‘there was no need’ when a garda offered him a sample of blood to take home.
Mr Conway was arrested in Ballyheane on December 27, 2017 after failing a roadside breath test. Garda Naughton told the court that he had followed Mr Conway after he observed him driving ‘erratically’ and driving on a grass verge, taking a lefthand turn outside Ballyheane.
Conveyed to Castlebar Garda Station, a blood sample was taken from Mr Conway by a designated on call nurse, and following this, Garda Naughton followed protocol by offering one of the blood samples to Mr Conway if he wished to get his own analysis done on the sample. Mr Conway told the court that when he was offered the sample, the nurse shook her head and said ‘there was no need’. Mr Conway said he did not take the sample as he was unsure whether to take it or not.

‘Very serious’
Judge Mary Devins said this was ‘very serious’ and something she had never heard of before. Defending solicitor Joan O’Brien said she had also never heard of an on call doctor or nurse telling a person arrested for drink driving not to accept a sample. Mr Conway had earlier told the court that he had four pints in a pub in the village.
The court heard that the sample which was sent to the Medical Bureau of Road Safety returned a reading of 146mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, nearly three times over the limit.
Addressing the evidence of Garda Naughton in relation to Mr Conway driving on a grass verge before taking a lefthand turn towards Liscunnell, Civil Engineer Oliver Higgins was called by the defence.
Mr Higgins handed in photos to the court of the turn and said the turn does not have any grass verges on either side of the road. Judge Devins was unsatisfied that the prosecution had proved its case and the drink driving charge was dismissed.