Unsigned certificate leads to dismiss of drink driving case

A district court judge has dismissed a drink driving charge after incomplete documentation was provided to the defence solicitor.

Padraic Ruddy, age 29, Glencullen Lower, Bangor Erris, pleaded not guilty at Belmullet District Court to the offence. However, he pleaded guilty to a charge of driving without insurance arising from the same incident.

Gda Paul Agnew told the court he was on patrol with driver Gda Paula Cullen at around 2.35am on July 13, 2024 when he observed a Volkswagen Golf driving in excess of the 50km/hr speed limit on the Ballina Road towards Carter Square, Belmullet. Gda Cullen activated the blue lights and the Golf stopped at American Street.

However, when Gda Cullen gave her evidence, she said Gda Agnew had been driving and was the one who activated the blue lights. Under cross-examination from defence solicitor Peter Flynn, she said she could not recall who had been driving while Gda Agnew said they had been “in and out” of the car during their work duties.

Gda Agnew spoke to the driver, Padraic Ruddy, whose speech was slurred and there was a smell of an intoxicating substance off him. The defendant failed a roadside breath test and was arrested and conveyed to Belmullet Garda Station.

At the Garda Station, Gda Cullen conducted further testing with the Evidenzer machine which gave a result of 31mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 22mg. The machine printed two statements, known as a Section 13 certificate, which were signed by Gda Cullen and Mr Ruddy. One of these original certificates was handed into court.

Mr Flynn said he had received three copies of the Section 13 certificate from the State, none of which had been signed by the Garda or Mr Ruddy. Gda Cullen explained the Evidenzer is capable of printing a third copy of the certificate but could not recall if she had done so in this instance.

Mr Flynn said he had been furnished with an unsigned copy of the certificate in disclosure and only had sight of the signed copy in court, creating "a serious doubt" about the origin of this copy. The confusion over who was driving the Garda car also created a doubt.

Insp Dermot Butler accepted the certificate disclosed to Mr Flynn had been a copy, but said the original signed by Mr Ruddy was now present in court. He said it was irrelevant who had been driving because it was clear that Gda Agnew had conducted the arrest.

Judge Sandra Murphy agreed that the issue of who was driving was not relevant but said Mr Ruddy's defence was prejudiced by the omission of the signed Section 13 certificate from the disclosure process. She would not be happy to convict Mr Ruddy for drink driving as there was “an element of misleading the defence”.

In relation to the insurance offence, Mr Ruddy, who has one previous conviction, told the court he borrowed a workmate’s car and was under the impression he was covered by an open insurance policy but this was not the case.

Judge Murphy imposed a fine of €250 and a one-year driving ban.

• Published as part of the Courts Reporting Scheme.