Donegal drink-driving cases stuck in Supreme Court limbo - Donegal News

By Jonathan Magee MORE than 300 drink-driving cases in Donegal are frozen. Gardaí, defendants, solicitors and Judges are waiting on the Supreme Court in Dublin to decide the answer to a question that nobody thought to ask until a defence solicitor in Limerick, Mr Pádraig Langsch, asked it. The question traces back to a blood […]

MORE than 300 drink-driving cases in Donegal are frozen. Gardaí, defendants, solicitors and Judges are waiting on the Supreme Court in Dublin to decide the answer to a question that nobody thought to ask until a defence solicitor in Limerick, Mr Pádraig Langsch, asked it.

The question traces back to a blood sample taken from a suspected drunk driver in August 2022.

Nobody thought much about what happened to that sample between the moment it was taken and the moment it was posted to a lab the following morning.

That oversight is now costing Donegal and nationwide courts dearly with the backlog of drink driving cases approaching record levels.

The question at the heart of it is does the law presume that a blood sample remains intact and uncontaminated during the hours between taking the sample in a Garda station and delivering it to the Medical Bureau of Road Safety? Or must the State prove it?

The case that forced that question is the Director of Public Prosecutions ( DPP) v Andrejs Ratinskis.

Ratinskis had been stopped at a roadside checkpoint in Newbridge in August 2022. A blood sample was taken at Newbridge Garda Station and posted to the Medical Bureau of Road Safety the following day. The sample showed 126mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, well above the legal limit of 50mg. He was convicted, handed a two-year driving ban and a €350 fine. Then his legal team looked more closely.

Garda evidence had not accounted for where the sample was stored overnight. It had not explained how its security or integrity was maintained in the hours between collection and posting. The chain of custody had a gap. A small gap. But a gap nonetheless.

Ms Justice Sara Phelan in the High Court found that statutory presumptions under the Road Traffic Act 2010 did not cover that gap. The prosecution could not rely on certificates alone. The chain of custody had to be proven in full. The conviction was quashed.

The DPP immediately appealed. The Supreme Court granted leave in December 2025, acknowledging that the issue potentially impacts thousands of drink-driving prosecutions nationwide. A hearing date has not yet been fixed.

And so at Letterkenny District Court on Monday, more than 300 cases were adjourned. All matters will return before the court on July 27, but what happens that day depends entirely on whether the Supreme Court has ruled by then. If it has not, the cases face yet another adjournment.

For Gardaí who stopped drivers, administered tests, and followed procedure carefully, the wait is a frustrating one. Cases they believed were watertight are now on hold through no fault of their own.

Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription. Any time | Any place | Anywhere