Specialist doctor was inebriated, Police confirm | Daily News

Specialist doctor was inebriated, Police confirm

Traffic Police DIG Ajith Rohana confirmed that the woman specialist doctor, involved in an accident in Boralesgamuwa in which an IP was killed, was confirmed to be under the influence of liquor at the time of the accident.

He said that the police had conducted the breathalyser test following the accident and the test confirmed that she was above the permitted limit. “More than 80ml of alcohol was found to be in her blood stream during the breathalyser test.

The doctor had attended a party prior to the accident. “We sent a police team to obtain CCTV footage of the party and have recorded statements from persons who attended the party,” the DIG said

He said according to two previous Supreme Court rulings, court had ruled that only a breathalyser test or a blood test conducted in a laboratory within a stipulated time can confirm whether an individual was under the influence of liquor or not. “Court will not accept a doctor’s observations based on whether the person’s breath smelled of alcohol or not,” he said.“At the time of the accident, the doctor was given a breathalyser test and it had turned green. Just because a doctor says that there was no smell of alcohol on her breath, it is not valid evidence in court.

It can be produced as verbal evidence but it is not solid evidence. In that case this doctor should have conducted a blood test at the time. The law says that if someone is to produce expert evidence, it should be explained how they arrived at that conclusion,” he said. The test conducted by the police was solid evidence as to the condition of the doctor at the time of the accident.

A police officer (IP) attached to the Police Field Force Headquarters was killed in this accident and his wife and two children were injured in the head-on collision which took place on September 30 in Boralesgamuwa.

The doctor was arrested over the accident and remanded until October 9. DIG Ajith Rohana said she is currently receiving treatment at the Colombo South Teaching Hospital under prison custody. 


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