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Breathalyser
victim acquitted, wants probe Gamini Fernando related his story to us after he read The Sunday Times story about breathalysers two weeks ago. But his was not a story of a flawed breathalyser test, but of an alleged police plot to fix him. The matter is now being probed by the National Police Commission and the Mt. Lavinia police. Mr. Fernando said he was stopped by two police officers at the Dehiwela bridge in February while he was returning from a dinner he had with a foreign principal. The police officer on duty accused him of driving under the influence of liquor and told him to drive to the Dehiwela police. The two policemen also got into the car. At the police station, the two officers had asked Mr. Fernando to blow the breathalyser over and over again, although the test has to be completed in one blow. However, Mr. Fernando claimed that each time he blew, the breathalyser contents remained yellow and did not turn green and reach the red line - meaning the alcohol content in the blood was within the permissible level. Despite the results of the breathalyser test being negative, Mr. Fernando, who is a chronic Asthma patient, was charged with driving under the influence of liquor. He was handed over to the Reserves Desk adjoining the police cell. Few minutes later, a policeman in charge of the Reserves Desk ordered him to remove his shoes, socks, shirt and belt and locked him in a cell and kept him bare bodied. Mr. Fernando said he asked permission to wear his shirt since it was cold, but the officer had turned down his request. But he was later allowed to wear his shirt after a senior police officer intervened on behalf of another bare-bodied person in the cell and allowed him to wear the shirt. The following morning, Mr. Fernando was released but ordered to appear before the Mt. Lavinia Magistrate on the 24th of that month to face charges of drunk-driving. Mr. Fernando said that he, however, learnt through his sources that the case was to be taken up on the 19th and not on the 24th. It was a case of the police deliberately misdirecting him to fix him, he claimed. On February 19, Mr. Fernando appeared before courts and was found not guilty. The Magistrate examined the tube and found it to be yellow, which meant he had not exceeded the permissible level of alcohol. Then why was he taken to courts? Mr. Fernando lodged a complaint with the Mt. Lavinia police. Traffic Superintendent R. E. C. Ranjan had assured him he would investigate the matter. Mr. Fernando also appealed to the National Police Commission. The NPC had directed the Mt. Lavinia Division SSP Willie Abeynayake to carry out an inquiry against the two police officers. But todate, Mr. Fernando claimed, he had not been contacted by either of the probe teams. The Sunday Times on October 3 carried an article highlighting the improper procedure police officers adopt in handling the breathalyser test. According to the breathalyser instructions, the equipment should be blown in one breath for 15 seconds. During this period, if the yellow crystals inside the tube turn green and reach a red line, it means the suspect driver's blood has more alcohol content than permitted by law. The legally permissible level is 0.08 grams per 100 milliliters of blood. In most cases, the police officers ask the suspect to blow the breathalyser more than once. Experts point out that blowing the equipment more than once will produce blown-up results. They say if a person blows the tube with more than one breath, the yellow crystals will turn green and reach the red mark even if he had consumed a small quantity. Even if the actual alcohol content in the blood is below the permissible level. Traffic Headquarters SSP Lucky Peiris told The Sunday Times that a suspect could refuse to undergo a breathalyser test, but he should then allow himself to be taken to a doctor and examined. |
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