Gardaí who followed a driver whose car swerved erratically across a road on St Valentine’s night found him drunk with his trousers undone.
Gardai stopped Melvyn Russell and his wife after they noticed his Renault Laguna car swerve near the village of Drumkeen in Co Donegal.
Russell (42), and his wife Donna had been out for a romantic meal earlier that night, had returned because Mrs Russell was feeling unwell, but went out again to see a friend who was living alone.
On his way to his home at Trentabuoy in Drumkeen, Russell was arrested by Gardaí on suspicion of drink-driving just after 4.30am on February 15th, 2014.
Gardaí had followed the vehicle and found it pulled into a dead end road at Stralongford.
Garda Michael Kilcoyne said he spoke to Russell and got the smell of drink from him, he was unsteady on his feet, his trousers were undone and he was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving.
Garda Kilcoyne told Russell he was being arrested but the accused man became annoyed and asked Gardaí if they “had nothing better to be doing?”
Garda Sinéad Kelly gave evidence that she noticed Russell’s “pants were open” and his wife was in the car beside him when the couple were stopped.
Mr Russell told Letterkenny District Court he had been drinking, but denied that he had been driving erratically. He denied that his trousers had been open or undone when he was stopped by Gardaí claiming: “My trousers were not undone – my buckle was broken on my belt.”
The father-of-three said he was also annoyed that his wife had been left alone, a mile from home and forced to walk home by Gardaí.
Russell was fined €350 for drink-driving and disqualified from driving for two years. The dangerous driving charge was struck out.