DRINK DRIVING SOLICITOR

These are good questions. Can you go to jail for drink driving? That depends on a few factors, but lets make some assumptions. I'm assuming this is your first drink driving offence. Its probably your first ever offence (it is for most people). If its your first offence then the chances of you being imprisoned are very, very low. The only way that this would change is if someone was injured as a result of your drunk driving. Seeing as though this rarely happens, the chances of a prison term are very low for a first offence. Does drink driving go on your record? Yes it does, but it is regarded -by the courts- as "spent" after 7 years. In other words, not to be taken into consideration for any later offences. But as in everything in life there are always exceptions to this rule. If you continue to drink and drive and accumulate a few drink driving convictions, even if those earlier convictions are more than 7 years ago, no court in the country will ignore them if you have been convicted again for the same offence. This is because you are exhibiting a dangerous pattern of behaviour that could at some point -as far as the judge will be concerned- lead to a possible road traffic fatality. And if there's one thing that judges are particularly concerned about, its making sure that (as much as they can) that they are not criticised in the media if they impose a penalty for a repeat drink driver that does not pose a deterrent to future bad behaviour. Judges often have a "maternal" or "paternal" instinct when it comes to the public: they are very concerned to keep the citizens who live in their district safe from threats on the road. So repeated drink drivers are at high risk of jail if they are convicted a second or third time, because this is indicating to a court that you are not learning your lesson. But again the vast majority of people will only ever have been arrested for drink driving once and if convicted they will have a record. But this record would not be enough to prevent you traveling abroad or from taking up a job, unless that job involved you driving as part of it.

When it comes to drink driving, you rarely ask your client to give evidence. This is becasue your client has been drinking and even though they may honestly believe what they say, we all know that when alcohol is involved it skews or alters accurate recollection. Lets face it, in almost all drink driving cases the police have little difficulty in proving that: (a) you were driving (b) that you were (scientifically) over the limit. But cases are not won just because the police prove both these elements. That's because there is a lot more to prove when it comes to drink driving than just whether you drank and drove. There are other "essential proofs" that a court will require to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. And these areas are the ones that you focus on. As to giving evidence, while it rare that you would ask your client to give evidence that doesn't mean that a motorist never gives evidence. There are some circumstances when they might be required to. For instance the police might allege that you were verbally abusive while in custody, something that you might totally disagree with. There are also some occasions when somebody may be slightly over the limit (and therefore have more credibility because they were not badly impaired by alcohol) and recall very clearly something that was said or done by the police that is different to the police's version of events. In these cases giving evidence may be the correct course of action. If every drink driving case resulted in a conviction once the police proved that you were over the limit when you drove, then every motorist prosecuted for drink driving would be convicted. There would be a 100% conviction rate. But there isn't. The conviction rate for drink driving in Ireland from 2020-2023 was 62.25%. That means that 37.74% of motorists prosecuted for drink driving were acquitted. Every one of those 37.74% were over the limit. So 37.74% of motorists were: (a) driving (b) scientifically over the limit But they were acquitted.

Are the use of handcuffs during an arrest for drink driving unlawful? No. Not at all. This had caused some confusion a number of years ago but the question was settled by Judge Dunne in the Supreme Court case of Pires, Corrigan and Gannon in 2019. This case dealt with three separate cases where handcuffs had been used in the course of an arrest for drink driving. In the Supreme Court Judge Dunne said that a Garda is "fully entitled to and may well be obliged to apply handcuffs to an arrested person, where he or she genuinely believes that it is necessary to do so in the particular case" Judge Dunne said that the courts should be "slow to review decisions of Garda officers in the wide range of situations with which they are confronted in the course of their duty..." He advised courts that they "should avoid the use of hindsight to come to a view that the...Garda concerned should have taken a different course". Judge Dunne concluded with these words: "One has to allow a measure of latitude to the Gardai". So, the use of handcuffs will generally be acceptable to the courts, but not in every case.