A Buncrana man found asleep in a car while over four times the legal limit has been handed a three-year driving ban.
Patrick McCarron claimed that he had returned to his car to put a parking ticket on and had no intention of driving.
However, the court found sufficient evidence to support a suggestion that he intended to drive the vehicle.
McCarron, a 34-year-old from Cornmill Avenue, Buncrana, was before Buncrana District Court.
Garda Mateusz Ferenc told the court that he responded to a report of a male sleeping in a car at Maginn Avenue, Buncrana, on December 20, 2023.
He said the man was sleeping in the car, a black Volkswagen Passat, in an upright position. The engine was running and the lights were on.
His colleague, Garda Hamilton, knocked on the window and the man in the vehicle, now known to be McCarron, knocked back.
Garda Ferenc said he detected a strong smell of intoxicating liquor from the vehicle, while McCarron’s speech was slurred, his face flushed and his eyes glassy.
McCarron told the garda that he was drinking all day. He said he was “on the beer with the boys”.
Garda Ferenc said he believed that McCarron was going to drive the vehicle and, therefore, was in charge of the vehicle while intoxicated.
At Buncrana Garda Station, a test confirmed a concentration of 93mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath, where the legal limit is 22mg per 100ml.
Mr Frank Dorrian, solicitor for McCarron, said his client’s protests that he was not going to drive the car were not taken down in writing by the garda.
“The argument was about whether or not he intended to drive,” the solicitor said. “If he says something damaging, that is a declaration after caution. If he says something supportive to his position, he is entitled to have that recorded.”
Mr Dorrian said the bars in town would have been closed for hours and McCarron was parked just 900m from his house.
“He would have had to drive past the garda station to get to his house,” Mr Dorrian said.
He added that there was “no effort to record his protests until the response to the charge”.
When charged, McCarron told gardai “I had no intention of driving. I was in the car because I was cold”.
Mr Dorrian said his client was entitled to have his argument rebutting the suggestion that he intended to drive noted.
Inspector Jonathan Sweeney said note taking at the side of the road at nighttime “can be difficult”. He said there was a presumption, given that the ignition was on and the lights were on, that McCarron intended to drive the car.
McCarron was placed in the witness box by his solicitor. He said that he was in a number of establishments on the day in question and he was “significantly intoxicated”.
He told the court that he went home before returning to the car. He claimed that he went back to put a parking ticket on the car as his father was to collect the vehicle the following morning.
Mr Dorrian told the court that the parking regulations came into play in the morning and that his client did not want to receive a parking fine.
When cross-examined, McCarron told Inspector Sweeney that he stopped drinking before 10.30pm.
Inspector Sweeney said that it was not feasible. “I have seen fatal notices for that (reading) minus six hours,” he said. “I put it to you that it was too cold and you went to get the car rather than walk”.
McCarron said his father texted him and they made arrangements for the collection of the vehicle the next morning.
The defendant’s father, Owen McCarron, said he was to get the car at an arranged location as his van had blown the turbo. He said the text from his son was that he wanted him to lift the car and he spoke to him by telephone “just to be sure”.
McCarron first appeared before the court at the end of March.
Judge Éiteáin Cunningham considered the matter, which was before the court again last Thursday.
Judge Cunningham said she was satisfied with the State’s evidence and found the facts proven.
Inspector Sean McDaid told the court that McCarron has no previous convictions.
Mr Dorrian said his client was otherwise of good character and was in full-time employment. An inevitable disqualification from driving would bring its own consequences, said Mr Dorrian.
McCarron was convicted and fined €200 with five months to pay.
He was also banned from driving for a period of three years.
Recognisance, in the event of an appeal, was fixed at his own bond of €200, nil cash.
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