This article is from page 18 of the 2008-04-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 18 JPG
A MAN who provided “short, sharp breaths” into an intoxlyser machine after he was arrested on suspicion of drink driving has been accused of “trying to fool” the machine.
Tony O’Leary (53), of Lower Quay, Liscannor, was convicted of fail- ing to provide a breath specimen to gardai, at Ennis Garda Station.
Garda Michael Sweeney told En- nis District Court that he was at the Garda station on November 9, 2007,
when another garda arrived with the accused who had been arrested on suspicion of drink driving.
Garda Sweeney said he started a 20 minute observation of Mr O’Leary.
He said he demanded a breath specimen. “He started providing a breath specimen. He gave a short, sharp breath, which was insufficient, twice,’ said the garda.
“IT informed him on numerous oc- casions he was to take a good deep breath, but he kept providing short, sharp breaths. He provided a breath
specimen roughly four times. He failed to provide a breath specimen. He was giving short, sharp breaths, which were insufficient for the intox- lyser,’ he added.
“Mr O’Leary didn’t indicate any reason to me why he wasn’t able to provide a breath specimen. I felt he was able to provide a breath speci- men. He just wasn’t providing it for us,’ said the garda.
Defending solicitor Siobhan Mc- Mahon said her client “wasn’t given the option of blood or urine, which
he would have been willing to pro- vide.
‘He is charged with failing to com- ply with the requirement to provide. It says nowhere about sufficiency. He proceeded to provide at least four times,” said Ms McMahon.
Inspector Tom Kennedy said it was the State’s case that the accused “was deliberately avoiding blowing prop- erly into the machine, as opposed to being unable”.
Mr O’Leary told the court he did “everything that was required of ine ome
“I blew into the apparatus on a number of occasions. I suffer from high blood pressure, I have a chest infection,’ he said, for which he was on a lot of medication.
He said, however, he did not tell this to the garda.
Inspector Kennedy put it to him that he was “trying to fool the machine”’. to which he replied, “I wouldn’t agree with that at all.”
The inspector replied, “You are coming in here today trying to get yourself off on a failure on your part to properly breath into the machine as required. You thought you would fool the machine by conveniently not giving it enough breath that it could analyse.”
Ms McMahon said her client lost a leg in a serious accident some time ago. He is on unemployment assist- ance and earns €25 a week busking at the Cliffs of Moher.
Judge Joseph Mangan heard he had a previous conviction for drink driv- ing in 2001.
He banned him from driving for six years and fined him €1,250.