Former All-Ireland winning Cork hurler and footballer Teddy McCarthy has been sentenced to two months in jail after he was found guilty of failing to give a blood or urine sample to gardaí when stopped on suspicion of drink-driving.
Judge Michael Pattwell also convicted McCarthy, Woodbrook, Castlejane, Glanmire, of dangerous driving and failing to produce insurance when stopped by gardaí at Riverstown Cross, Glanmire, on November 21st last.
Gardaí spotted McCarthy driving on the wrong side of the road and when they stopped him they found his eyes were glazed, his speech was slurred and there was a smell of alcohol. But McCarthy told gardaí that he had "never drunk in all his life".
When McCarthy was brought to Cobh Garda station, he refused to give a blood or urine sample and insisted he be allowed to use an intoxilyser. When told that there was none available, he again refused to give a blood or urine sample, gardaí testified.
McCarthy, who denied the charges, said that he had not refused to give a sample, that he simply wanted to use an intoxilyser. When asked why his speech was slurred, he said he had no explanation because as far as he was concerned, his speech was not slurred.
Judge Pattwell told McCarthy at Cobh District Court yesterday that having heard the evidence of four witnesses, including that of a doctor, he had doubt, but the weight of the evidence was on the side of the prosecution. He said the way McCarthy had met the charges in court was "appalling".
He had got into the box, he said, and taken an oath on the Bible to say he had no drink taken on the night - something that from the overwhelming evidence of four witnesses could not be true.
The judge said he had long taken the view that if a person refused to give a sample, nobody knew how much they were over the limit, if at all, and why should someone who was so unco-operative get a lesser sentence than someone who did co-operate.
He sentenced McCarthy to two months in prison, with leave to appeal, and banned him from driving for two years for refusing to give a sample. He fined him €1,000, banned him for a year for dangerous driving and fined him a further €150 for failing to produce insurance.
Judge Pattwell set recognisances in the event of an appeal and McCarthy, who was represented by solicitor and former All-Ireland medal winning Cork hurler Mick Malone, entered into a bail bond pending an appeal of his conviction and sentence at Midleton Circuit Court.
One of only a handful of players to win All-Ireland medals in both hurling and football, McCarthy is unique in GAA history in that he is the only man to win All-Ireland hurling and football medals in the same year, helping Cork to win the double in 1990.
