Athlone’s ongoing Connacht/Leinster conundrum showed a whole new manifestation in the District Court last week (October 24 ) when it was responsible for getting a man off a drinking charge despite his being over twice the limit.
Before the court was Bernard McCaul, caretaker of Athlone Golf Club, Hodson Bay, who had been arrested in the early hours on February 3 at the Hill of Berries, on the Roscommon Road.
Garda Karen Coghlan gave evidence that he had been “driving erratically on the wrong side of the road” and that when she intoxilised the defendant, after following all the proper arrest procedures, he gave a reading of 84 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 milligrammes of breath. (The legal limit is 35/100. )
Defence solicitor Eoin Carty sought a dismissal of the charge on two grounds, namely that the garda hadn’t given the room temperature and humidity of the intoxiliser room in her original statement and that the place of arrest given on the summons was incorrect.
Mr Carty argued that the Hill of Berries was in Roscommon, not Westmeath as stated on the summons.
Inspector Nicholas Farrell refuted the initial argument by pointing out that Garda Coghlan had said in her evidence to the court that she had noted the ambient temperature in her notebook but he did concede that Hill of Berries was in Roscommon and not in Westmeath.
This was enough for Judge David Anderson, who dismissed the charge against McCaul.
