A Ukrainian man who refused to give a breath sample or a blood sample when he was arrested on suspicion of drink driving was the most intoxicated person the arresting garda had ever seen behind the wheel of a car, Midleton District Court heard.
Detective Garda Patrick O’Callaghan made the comments about the arrest of Aleksii Savchenko, 49, of The Quality Hotel, Redbarn, Youghal, Co Cork, who was stopped on suspicion of drink driving in east Cork last April.
Giving evidence, Det. Gda O’Callaghan said that on the evening of April 15th, 2024, he observed a silver Volkswagen Shuttle driving erratically near Youghal, Co. Cork.
The vehicle was seen “swerving all over the road,” crossing the white line and repeatedly braking then starting off again for no apparent reason. Det Gda O’Callaghan stopped the vehicle at Upper Strand, Youghal shortly before 11pm.
The driver, identified as Aleksii Savchenko opened the driver’s door and several empty beer cans fell onto the road beside the vehicle. Det Gda O’Callaghan said that Mr Savchenko’s speech was slurred, his eyes were glazed and he “could barely speak".
The garda formed the opinion that Mr Savchenko was intoxicated to such an extent that he was a danger to himself and others and arrested him on suspicion of drink driving.
The court heard that Mr Savchenko was brought to Midleton Garda Station, but was unable to provide a complete breath specimen.
A doctor was called and Mr Savchenko was asked to provide a specimen of either blood or urine but refused to do so. Mr Savchenko then asked for a translator and one was provided via telephone but he again refused to provide a specimen.
Defence solicitor Stephen Foley said his client was suffering from anaemia and was suffering stress because his son had been injured while fighting in the war in Ukraine.
He put it to the garda that his client said he was not drunk and that he had evidence of admission to Cork University Hospital to be treated for anaemia shortly after the incident.
Det Gda O’Callaghan said: “In all my time as a garda he was the most intoxicated person behind the wheel of a car I’ve ever seen. I don’t think he would have made it home, to be honest."
The garda added that Mr Savchenko could hardly stand or walk unaided and spent most of the journey to the garda station asleep in the squad car.
Mr Foley said that his client had brought some friends on a picnic the previous day and the empty beer cans belonged to them. He said that Mr Savchenko did not drink at the picnic but was too sick to remove the empty cans from the vehicle.
He said that his client did not fully understand what was happening because of the language barrier and that the translator provided was Russian and not Ukrainian.
He said that Mr Savchenko was involved with a group that brought vehicles to Ukraine and he may have been under the impression he was being kidnapped and robbed because the arresting garda was in plain clothes.
Judge Colm Roberts said that he had encountered some medical conditions that could make a person appear to have some of the symptoms of drink driving, but not all of them.
He said that Mr Savchenko’s condition appeared to affect his driving, his speech, made him smell of alcohol, affected his ability to stand and did not explain the beer cans in the vehicle.
The judge said there appeared to be a significant conflict of evidence and if Mr Savchenko was to be believed then the evidence of three different gardaí was incorrect.
The judge said he believed Mr Savchenko’s English was better than he had led the court to believe and that he fully understood what had happened on the night in question.
He said that Mr Savchenko’s evidence was “totally unreliable” and convicted him on two counts of refusing or failing to provide a specimen.
He was disqualified from driving for four years on both counts and fined €150 on each count with two months to pay. Recognisance in the event of an appeal was fixed in his own bond of €500 with €250 required in cash.
