Drink-driving case against former Eirgrid chief executive dismissed for failing to provide urine test – The Irish Times

A judge has ruled that a blood test showing Eirgrid chief executive Mark Foley was more than four times the legal limit was “inadmissible” as evidence in a drink-driving case against him .

Mr Foley (63) of Hunters Leap, Newcastle, Co Wicklow faced a charge of being “under the influence of alcohol to such an extent that he was unable to exercise proper control of the said vehicle” .

He pleaded not guilty at Dún Laoghaire District Court on Tuesday to the charge under Section 4(1) and (5) of the Traffic Act 2010.

Garda Kevin Massey, of Irishtown Garda Station, said Mr. Foley approached him on Anglesea Road in Dublin 4 on the afternoon of 13 January 2023 at 5.45pm.

Foley told gardaí he was driving in the direction of Ballsbridge. He said he had reached for his cell phone and was talking to someone when he lost concentration and hit two parked cars.

Garda Massey said she smelled alcohol on Mr Foley’s breath. He warned him and asked if he had been drinking. Mr Foley replied no.

The garda then asked him to provide a breath sample which Mr Foley did. The court heard he failed a breath test.

Foley was arrested at 6.10pm on suspicion of drink driving, cautioned and taken to Irishtown Garda Station. He was read and explained his rights.

A doctor was called at 6:20 p.m. The doctor arrived at Irishtown Garda Station at 7.35pm and took a blood sample under section 12(B) of the Road Traffic Act 2010. Garda Massey said he could not remember the exact words he use to request the sample from Mr. Foley.

At 19.42, Mr. Foley offered a sample. He was offered a container with a portion of the sample which he accepted. Mr Foley was then released at 7.55pm.

Garda Massey provided a secondary sample to the Road Safety Medical Office.

On 20 January 2023, the office sent Garda Massey a certificate to state that the sample showed a blood alcohol concentration of 216 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of blood. The current drink driving limit is 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.

Judge Anne Watkins said a proper request was not made at Irishtown Garda Station to Mr Foley, who should have been given the option of a urine sample.

As a result, he said, the garda “had no right” to take the blood sample. “Therefore, it is not a lawfully taken sample,” he said, adding that it could not be admitted as evidence in the case.

Because no one had seen Mr. Foley drive, “there was no evidence” to support the State’s claim that he had been driving drunk, he added.

He said it was not known why he had lost control of the vehicle. He suggested that it might have been a fox or a child running into the road or an oil slick or that he wasn’t keeping a proper lookout. “We don’t know it was because of the alcohol,” he said.

The idea that he had crashed into parked cars because he had been drink driving was therefore “not admissible”.

Prior to joining Eirgrid in June 2018, Foley held senior roles at Dublin Airport Authority and Coillte. He stepped down as chief executive of Eirgrid in April this year, a day before the case first went to court.

No reason was given for his departure and Eirgrid declined to comment at the time.

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