Garda suspended after crashing official car and failing breath test

A Garda member has been suspended from duty pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations that he was intoxicated when he crashed in Dublin at the weekend. 

 

The man, aged in his 30s, suffered non-life threatening injuries when his official vehicle was involved in a collision with a car on Sunday evening on the M1 near the Lissenhall interchange. The driver of the second vehicle was not injured. 

 

The garda was breathalysed at the scene of the crash and failed the preliminary roadside test. However, the results of that test are not legally binding and a further analysis of a sample taken while he was in hospital will be required before it can be determined whether or not he was intoxicated. 

 

Pending the return of those test results and the outcome of the inquiry, the garda has been suspended from duty. 

 

Garda headquarters confirmed that officers in Swords were investigating a “collision involving an official Garda vehicle and a car” on the M1 on Sunday. 

 

The force said the sample taken in hospital had been sent to the Medical Bureau of Road Safety for analysis and that the result would determine the course of the ongoing investigation. 

 

“An internal disciplinary investigation has also commenced and the member of An Garda Síochána, a male in his 30s based in the Dublin Region, has been suspended from active duty,” it added. 

 

The Irish Times