Blowing too soft and too hard for alco breath tests sees cases dismissed

By TONY GALVIN BLOWING too little and blowing too much was enough to save two women from four-year driving disqualifications when charges of failing to provide a breath sample for intoxalyser analysis at Tuam Garda Station were thrown out by Judge Geoffrey Browne at the local District Court on Tuesday. Although the Judge warned defence solicitors present that these cases were one-offs and they needn't all turn up with similar defence claims in the future, sources in the legal profession have indicated their pleasure that an apparent precedent has been set and there is now a new loophole in the drink-driving laws for them to exploit.[private] Failure to provide a breath sample for alcohol analysis carries a mandatory four-year driving ban. Gardai are concerned that unscrupulous drink-driving suspects may now try to fool the intoxalyser by adopting either a soft-blow or hard-blow technique. It was pleaded in Court that one defendant didn't have enough wind to blow into the intoxalyser machine at Tuam Garda Station while, in a separate case, it was argued that the defendant was so willing, she blew too hard, and this also registered an incomplete result. In the case of Cora Brady, 2 Woodfield, Galway Road, Tuam, Eric Gleeson solr pleaded that his client failed to provide a breath sample because she was suffering from a chest infection and other medical conditions. At a sitting of the Court in September, Judge Browne heard Brady's case but allowed an adjournment so her doctor could attend and give evidence. Brady was stopped at a mandatory checkpoint in Tuam on May 12. She failed a breath test and was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. At the Garda station she failed to provide an adequate breath sample to register an intoxalyser reading. At the September hearing Insp Mick O'Dwyer argued that she had ample opportunity to request a doctor to take a blood or urine sample, but failed to do so. The defendant insisted she had asked for a doctor. On Tuesday her doctor told the Court Brady suffered from a chest infection which could leave her short of breath. Judge Browne said he'd take an chance, and dismissed the case. 'Don't let the word go out that this is going to be an excuse to use because it just won't be,' the Judge warned the solicitors present. In the second case involving Christina Foy, Claremorris, she was arrested at Blackacre, Tuam, on May 29 last on suspicion of drunk driving. When she got to Tuam Garda Station she blew so enthusiastically into the intoxalyser that it failed to register a reading. A Garda witness admitted she was co-operative but very nervous and blew far too hard and, as a result, couldn't maintain the duration of breath flow necessary to register the sample. She tried four times but repeated the mistake each time. Gearoid Geraghty solr (defending) said Foy had too much capacity, as opposed to Mr Gleeson's client who had too little. 'She wasn't trying to let on she was sick or had a problem,' he said, adding that in all his and the Judge's time of hearing such cases, he was sure neither of them ever came across a situation of someone trying too hard and failing the intoxalyser test. The Judge agreed and dismissed the case. [/private]