DEAF MAN 3 TIMES OVER LIMIT HAS DRINK-DRIVE CONVICTION OVER-TURNED

May 7, 2016

drinkDrivingBreathtest_largeA CO DONEGAL man who is deaf has had a drunk-driving conviction overturned after claiming he didn’t understand gardai after his arrest.

Gerard Doherty, who is 42 and from Glentain Manor in Letterkenny, was banned from driving for two years when he was found guilty at Letterkenny District Court in 2014.

He was almost three times over the drink-driving limit.

However at a District Court Appeals hearing at Letterkenny Circuit Court, Mr Doherty’s barrister Peter Nolan argued that his client should have been provided with a sign language interpreter and that he didn’t understand all the garda procedures.

Garda Alan McKenna told Judge John O’Hagan that he arrested Doherty in Spackburn Drive in Letterkenny on January 14, 2012 after the motorist failed to stop.

The garda said Doherty got out of the car and tried to run off but that he had detained him.

He said he then realised Doherty was deaf, unable to speak and he wrote out on a piece of paper that he was arresting him on suspicion of drink driving and he showed the piece of paper to Doherty who nodded.

During the following hour another garda had made numerous phone calls to garda stations in Dublin and to deaf charities but they failed to locate a sign language interpreter.

Mr Doherty, who was in court, had the proceedings relayed to him by a sign language interpreter.

The court heard Garda McKenna and Garda Tom Regan used gestures and wrote notes to Mr Doherty throughout the next two hours as the case was processed and a blood sample was taken by a GP. Both gardai said they hadn’t received any training in dealing with someone with a deafness disability.

Mr Doherty had responded by writing ‘ok’ to a number of questions although Garda McKenna said he didn’t write down the caution.

Garda McKenna said that when he was giving Doherty the option of a giving a blood or urine sample he had pointed to two boxes – one marked B and one marked U.

Barrister Peter Nolan said however that his client did not understand most of what was going on.

“Mr Doherty’s first language is sign language. He is basically illiterate in English and he did not and could not understand what was happening,” he said.

He said his client had not been clear as to whether he was offered the services of a solicitor.

The court heard Doherty, a delivery driver, had written down a response where he said he didn’t understand a question.

Judge John O’Hagan said that while he believed the arrest was valid there was a “puff of smoke” over the case.

He said it was clear gardai had tried their very best to get a sign language interpreter and when they hadn’t they had tried their best to deal with Mr Doherty.

He said citizens using Letterkenny Garda Station were met with signs offering them a service in Irish but not one offering sign language facilities.

The judge said that despite going to great lengths to get across the information to Mr Doherty “it is clear that on occasion that he did not understand” everything that was going on.

“I feel to convict on the evidence would be dangerous,” said the judge.

“I have a suspicion about the case but a suspicion is not good enough.”

 


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