This article is from page 12 of the 2006-03-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
A COURT has heard how a 13-year-old girl ended up unconscious in hospital after she drank half a bottle of vodka and some wine in west Clare.
The girl said she was on holidays in Clare and purchased a bottle of vodka at Meade’s Mace supermarket, Miltown Malbay, in June 2005.
She said she and a friend drank the bottle of vodka and some wine between them, and she was then taken to hospital where she was detained overnight.
Donnan Meade, of Meade’s Mace, Miltown Malbay, was accused of permitting the sale of intoxicating liquor to an underage person, at the local district court.
The young girl claimed she had bought a one-litre bottle of vodka in the shop. However, the accused’s solicitor Gearoid Williams said that this was not the case, as no litre bottles were sold on the date in question. The young girl’s friend told the court she drank the vodka with her friend on a beach nearby. She said she was “nearly positive” it was a litre bottle.
“She started getting sick. I talked to her, but she did not talk back. I got worried,” said the friend.
The girl’s grandmother said her granddaughter told her she had bought the vodka at the Mace store in Miltown Malbay.
“I think she became more or less unconscious,” she added.
Mr Meade said it was his policy to ask for identification when selling alcohol. He said the premises has been operated by his family for a long number of years and there has never been a problem in relation to alcohol before. He said he went through the till roll for the date in question. A 700ml bottle of vodka had been sold, but there was no litre bottle sold. He said he could put his hand on his heart and say his staff did not sell vodka to the girl in question.
Mr Williams said there was a reasonable doubt and that any benefit of the doubt must be given to his client.
However, Superintendent Eamon Dolan, prosecuting, said the young girl did go into Mace and purchased the vodka.
Judge Joseph Mangan dismissed the case, saying, “In order to record a conviction, a court must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt. There are a number of discrepancies in the defence and a number of small discrepancies in the State’s case.
“There are too many straws on the camel’s back. I am giving the benefit to the defendant.”