Court told man stopped in Laois was almost 16 times the drug driving limit

A court was told a man who was stopped on his way to work was almost 16 times over the drug driving limit.  

Reece Dunne, 26, of The Cottage, Morrette, Emo was stopped at a checkpoint in Cappakeel, Portlaoise on February 6, 2023. 

Garda Ross Foy told the court he had been operating a checkpoint when he stopped the driver on the bank holiday Monday morning. 

He said the defendant, who was driving a Mercedes C180 had a full drivers licence. 

“He said he was on his way to work in the Maldron Hotel,” said Garda Foy. 

He said the defendant was slow to answer questions and “appeared to be a bit spaced out” and Garda Foy decided to perform a roadside drug swab. He did this after a ten minute period of observation by the roadside.

He said the defendant tested positive for cocaine but was compliant and there was no requirement for handcuffs. He took the man back to the garda station where a doctor was called and took a blood sample. 

Garda Foy said the defendant, who had been talkative and engaged in “chit chat”, took one of the blood samples when it was offered to him. 

When the results of the sample returned they were negative for alcohol but contained 789 nanograms per millilitre of cocaine.  Garda Foy said the cocaine reading was “just shy of 16 times the limit.”

A barrister for the accused asked about the powers used to stop the driver on the roadside. He claimed the garda had no right to detain the man by the roadside for 10  minutes of observation prior to getting a sample. 

Garda Foy said he hadn’t detained the defendant but had merely observed him at the side of the road.

“I didn’t invoke any power, I just observed him at the roadside,” he said. 

The barrister argued that the garda did not have any powers to detain the man at the roadside. 

“It is plain as a pikestaff that Mr Dunne wasn’t entitled to leave,” he argued. 

He cited case law and insisted there was no justification to detain his client at the roadside. 

“There is no halfway house between arrest and freedom,” he told the court.

“I submit to the court that that period of detention is illegal,” he added. 

Garda Sergeant JJ Kirby said the court was dealing with a hypothetical situation as the defendant had not driven away from the roadside. He said the man was stopped at 10.23 am and arrested at 10.47am. In all, from being stopped and leaving the garda station, it had been three hours, said Sgt Kirby.  

Judge Nicola Andrews said she wanted to take some time to consider all of the matters raised in the case. She adjourned the case back to Portlaoise District Court on July 1.