Pensioner (76) told gardaí he would shoot whoever told them he was drink-driving

Stephen Maguire

A 76-year-old man told gardaí he would shoot whoever told them he had been drinking after he was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving.

James Duffy also told gardaí they would be better off calling him a taxi home as they had forgotten to breathalyse him at the scene.

Duffy appeared at Falcarragh District Court in Co Donegal after he was stopped at Kilcarragh, Dunfanaghy on November 8th, 2022, driving a red Mercedes.

The court heard that Garda Sergeant Vincent Muldoon took the accused to Milford Garda station on suspicion of drink-driving.

However, when asked to give a breath sample, Duffy told Sergeant Muldoon he was "blowing into nothing" and the best thing he could do was to phone him a taxi to send him home.

The court was told that Duffy was of the belief that because he was not breathalysed at the scene he could not be charged.

Garda Inspector Seamus McGonigle said Duffy, of Kildarragh, Dunfanaghy, sat back in his chair at one stage and told gardaí they had no proof he had done anything.

He also said at the station that he would "shoot" the person who had told gardaí about him.

He was eventually charged with failing to give a breath sample to gardaí at Milford Garda station under the Road Traffic Act of 2010.

Solicitor for the accused, Frank Dorrian, said the underlying problem was alcohol and that his client was drunk. He had also been ill-informed by others that if he was not breathalysed at the side of the road he could not be charged, Mr Dorrian added.

"He got it into his head that because he was not breathalysed at the scene he could not be charged and this is in fact not true. He didn't actually realise this until I told him.

"He was adamant that he should have been breathalysed, but this is the rock on which he perished," he said.

He added that Duffy was intoxicated and was a little bit boisterous because he thought he was correct.

Mr Dorrian said his client was a pensioner and had made it this far without having any convictions.

Judge Vincent Deane banned Duffy from driving for four years and fined him €350.