Former TD’s cocaine case is adjourned for fifth time
The case of driving while under the influence of drugs involving a former Galway East TD was adjourned for the fifth time when it came before a sitting of Tuam District Court.
Colm Keaveney (53), with an address at Milltown Road, Tuam, faces one count of driving with cocaine in his system.
The offence is alleged to have occurred on June 12 last year at Cummer, Tuam.
When his case was called, his solicitor Gearoid Geraghty informed the court that he had made submissions in relation to the charge against Keaveney in front of Judge James Faughnan last month.
As Judge Fiona Lydon was sitting at Tuam Court on Tuesday, Mr Geraghty applied for an adjournment as he said that the matter should go back before Judge Faughnan who had heard the submissions.
An alleged discrepancy in the testing of a blood sample for the presence of cocaine will be one of the arguments that will be presented by the defence.
Mr Geraghty indicated at a previous sitting that wants to raise a number of issues with the Medical Bureau of Road Safety (MBRS) in relation to this.
A representative from the MBRS was due to give evidence in relation to the processing of the sample taken from the defendant after his arrest.
Mr Geraghty took issue with what he described as the “inordinate” delay in the process and alleged that as the seal of the sample had been broken, it could have become contaminated in the meantime.
This will form the basis of his defence when the case is eventually heard.
It is alleged he drove a vehicle with cocaine in his system and that the concentration of the drug — known as Benzoylecgonine — in his blood was greater than the legal threshold, contrary to the Road Traffic Act of 2010.
But it has now been adjourned to the November 12 sitting of Tuam Court and Keaveney has been remanded on continuing bail. He also faces a charge of driving without insurance on a separate date.
Mr Geraghty said that a sample taken from his client had been analysed for traces of alcohol on June 16, 2023 but there was no evidence of alcohol in his system.
He said that the sample was subsequently analysed for the presence of other drugs and that this process commenced on July 3, 2023 and was completed on August 4, 2023. He has argued that this is an unacceptable delay in the process.
Pictured: Former TD Colm Keaveney.