Drink Driving

What is drink driving? 

In Ireland, it is against the law to drive in a public place under the influence of an intoxicant. In the context of alcohol, if the concentration of alcohol in your blood or urine or breath is to the extent as to be incapable of having proper control of your vehicle or if you have consumed more than the permitted amount of alcohol you will have committed a criminal offence.

The Gardai are given powers through legislation to carry out roadside breath testing and it is an offence to refuse to comply with these tests.

Regardless of whether it is your first drink driving offence, your second or your third, if you are caught drink driving in Ireland, and are found guilty, you will be disqualified from driving for a prescribed length of time.

How does someone get caught drink driving?

The Road Traffic Act 2010 allows for mandatory testing checkpoints. At these checkpoints, the gardai may stop any vehicle at random and require the driver of that vehicle to provide a preliminary specimen which is more commonly known as breathing into a breathalyser. This will show the guards if you are driving while under the influence of alcohol.

The gardai also have the power to require a preliminary breath specimen from an individual in charge of a mechanically propelled vehicle if the guard has formed the opinion that the driver has consumed an intoxicant.

What happens if I am caught drink driving? 

If you are caught drink driving, the Road Traffic Acts confer various powers on the Gardai which allow them to arrest a person who they suspect of committing an offence contrary to drink driving laws. The gardai do not need to have a sight of a preliminary specimen in order to arrest the suspected person, they simply need to have formed an opinion that the person in question is committing or has committed an offence under the relevant drink driving legislation.

Once arrested, you, as a suspected drink driver, will be brought to a local garda station and informed of your rights. You will then be observed for a period of 20 minutes before you are required to provide two breath specimens through a breath test apparatus. This is to confirm that you were caught committing a drink and drive offence (REF 1). It will amount to a separate criminal offence if you fail or refuse to comply with the mandatory testing obligation.

If the breath test apparatus confirms that you were committing a drink and drive offence, the gardai will most likely charge you with an offence through the charge sheet procedure. This is a document which will set out details of the offence. Unless there is some reason to prevent this, you will be released on station bail, meaning you can leave the garda station, and you will be required to appear in court at a specific time at a later date. This will be your first court appearance in relation to your drink driving case.

The gardai may also propose to require a blood or urine sample from you whilst you are in custody. If this is the case, they must secure the attendance of a designated doctor or nurse at the garda station. They are afforded reasonable time to accomplish this. Once the blood or urine specimen has been collected, it will be sent off to the Medical Bureau of Road Safety to be tested.

When the results of this test are ready, they will be sent to both you and the relevant gardai. You will then most likely receive a summons which will require you to attend court at a later date. Again, this will be the first court appearance in relation to your case.

What happens if I am charged with drink driving? 

If you are charged with drink driving, you will have to go to Court on a few separate occasions.

On your first court appearance, you will be legally charged with the relevant offence and this offence will be read out to you in detail by the gardai. At this stage, you would usually look for disclosure from the Gardai and this is just a compilation of the evidence that has been collected against you. If the gardai are not yet ready to hand over disclosure, your case will be adjourned and you should receive it on the next date.

Once you receive the disclosure, your case will be adjourned as you are given time to go through this evidence and decide how you want to proceed.

On your second court appearance, you will indicate to the Court if you want to plead guilty or not guilty. As disqualification orders are mandatory, there is generally very little benefit in pleading guilty in drink driving cases. If you are pleading guilty, the judge will proceed to sentencing. If not, the court will assign you a hearing date.

Your third court appearance is when your hearing will take place. The Judge will hear all of the evidence presented to the Court and make its final determination. You will either be found guilty or the case against you will be dismissed.

Do I need a Solicitor?  

You do not have to hire a Solicitor, but it is strongly advised that you consider doing so, particularly if you find yourself having been charged with offences related to drink driving. Convictions for drink driving offences in Ireland carry very severe ramifications that have the potential to significantly disrupt the fabric of your everyday life. The imposition of a mandatory disqualification period is standard practice, and the possibility of a prison sentence looms as a tangible and significant outcome.

Solicitors undergo extensive education and continuous training to become experts in their chosen fields. When you choose to engage the professional services of a solicitor, you are essentially securing a representative who is exclusively dedicated to safeguarding your interests and delivering the most robust possible defence strategy available.

If you find yourself facing charges related to drink driving, it is most wise to consider hiring a Solicitor who possesses specialised expertise in this specific area of the law. By doing so, you are ensuring that you have the support of someone who will put every effort into ensuring that your case is prepared to the best possible standard and who will fight for the best outcome for you.

Can I fight a drink driving case? 

It is up to the State to prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, it is not up to you to prove your innocence and so the answer is yes, no matter what the circumstances of your case are, you can always choose to fight the charges against you. You are not under any obligation to plead guilty.

How do I fight a drink driving case?

There are many ways for you to fight a drink driving case, which is why it is advised that you hire a Solicitor as they will be in the best position to identify what defences are available to you. Listing every possible defence is impossible given that each case rests on its own set of facts, but the following list comprises of some of the more common defences which have been successful in fighting drink driving charges:

• Unavailability of crucial witness;
• Essential documents going missing in advance of the hearing;
• Incorrectly charged with the wrong offence;
• Legal regulations not followed;
• Medical exemption certificate;
• Involuntary intoxication.

What happens if I plead guilty to drink driving or if I am convicted by a Judge? 

If you plead guilty or if you are found guilty of a drink driving offence by a Judge, you will be convicted and the Judge will proceed to sentence you accordingly. Keep reading below to see what penalties the Judge might impose.

H3 Penalties for Drink Driving Offences

What are the penalties?

There are various penalties available to the Court if you are convicted of a drink driving offence. The penalty imposed on you will vary depending on the amount of alcohol in your system. The court will also take into consideration if it is your first drink driving offence or if you have been convicted of previous similar offences. Some of the available penalties are mandatory and others are discretionary in nature.

You can be assured that the penalty you will definitely receive is a disqualification period from driving. This is a mandatory penalty which the courts must impose and if convicted, there is no way to avoid it.

The court has the power to impose a monetary fine or a term of imprisonment or both. Prison sentences for drink and drive offences in Ireland are not obligatory, rather, they are considered a potential outcome. This is because the legislation stipulates that the court may impose a term of imprisonment rather than they must. Prison sentences are usually reserved for repeat persistent offenders, so if it is your first drink and drive offence, it is highly unlikely that you will be sentenced to prison. However, if the circumstances of your offence are particularly serious in nature, a prison sentence is definitely a possibility.

You can also receive penalty points for drink driving offences.

Can I appeal if I am convicted of drink driving? 

Yes, if you have been convicted of a drink driving offence in the District Court, you have an automatic right of appeal to the Circuit Court. To contrast this, the general rule regarding prosecution appeals is that if you have been acquitted, the prosecution cannot appeal to the Circuit Court.

An appeal to the Circuit Court from the District Court can be against the conviction, sentence or both. The timelines for appeals are quite tight, if you wish to appeal your sentence or conviction in the District Court, you will have to do so within 14 days from the date of the decision you are appealing.

If you do decide to lodge an appeal, the District Court will fix recognisance, usually a financial sum, which is essentially a promise by you that in the event of an appeal, you will attend Court as required. On entering into a recognisance, the District Court will place a ‘stay’ on the order appealed. In effect, this means that a pause is placed on any penalties imposed on you whether this be a disqualification order or a term of imprisonment or the requirement to pay a fine.

The hearing of the appeal will be ‘de novo’ and this means that the case will be heard as if it is the first time. It is a complete re-hearing of the case from start to finish. The decision of the Circuit Court is final and it cannot be appealed.

Will I go to prison? 

As previously outlined, if you are convicted of a drink driving offence, there is a very real possibility that you can go to prison as the relevant legislation provides for this. However, this penalty is generally reserved for repetitive and consistent offenders. If you are a first time offender, it is very unlikely that you will receive a prison sentence.

The Court takes an array of factors into account when deciding whether or not to impose a term of imprisonment. These include the following but please note this list is non-exhaustive:

• If there are any previous convictions of a similar nature;
• The level of alcohol found in your system at the time of the offence;
• The offenders general conduct and attitude to having committed the offence;
• The impact and consequences of the offence;
• The offenders personal circumstances;
• The length of time that the offender has been driving

If you are convicted and receive a prison sentence, this conviction will form part of your criminal record. However, if you decide to appeal your sentence, you will be released from prison pending the outcome of your appeal.

Will I lose my job? 

It is possible that you will lose your job if you are convicted of drink driving. This is most likely to happen if your job is dependent on you having a full driver’s licence as if convicted, you will be disqualified from driving.

Will I get a criminal record? 

Yes, if you are found guilty and convicted of a drink driving offence, this will form part of your criminal record. The only way to avoid this is if you receive a fixed penalty notice. This happens if, at the time that you were caught drink driving, the level of alcohol in your system was below a certain limit. You will be issued with a fixed penalty notice which means that you will not have to go to Court and thus, you will avoid a conviction. But remember, you will still be required to pay the requisite fine and will be disqualified from driving for three or six months, depending on the amount of alcohol in your system.

Can I get my licence back early? 

In some instances, it is possible to have your licence restored early. You can apply to have your licence restored when you have completed one half of the length of your disqualification order but your licence cannot be restored until two-thirds of the disqualification period has been served.

Will I be able to get insured when I get my licence back? 

Yes, you are entitled to be insured when you get your licence back. If you run into any difficulties in this area, you can apply to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) to have your complaint investigated