Man sentenced to four months by Carlow court after high-speed car chase
Carlow town bus park where the defendant drove into
A 30-YEAR-old man was sentenced to four months in prison after he caused a high-speed police chase through the centre of Carlow town. Niall Byrne pleaded guilty to three counts of dangerous driving, one count of misuse of drugs, criminal damage and driving without insurance.
The charges arose from an incident that took place on 2 September 2025. At 23.54 on Barrack Street in Carlow, gardaí were on patrol and scanning number plates when the car Mr Byrne was driving came up as having no insurance or tax. The guards then attempted to flag Mr Byrne down, but when he saw the officers he drove through a red light.
Mr Byrne proceeded to overtake a bus at speed, drive through Penneys car park, drive over a footpath, drive through another red light and then drove into the Carlow town coach park.
Once Mr Byrne had driven into the coach park, the gardaí blocked the exit with their patrol car and began to approach Mr Byrne’s car on foot. Mr Byrne then reversed over a roundabout and drove at the approaching gardaí.
In the course of doing this, Mr Byrne drove into a bush which was the property of Carlow Co Council and caused €1,200 worth of damage. After that, his car came to a stop and Mr Byrne was arrested.
A subsequent search revealed that he had €30 worth of cannabis on him. Mr Byrne was then conveyed to Carlow Garda Station where he was processed for a drink-driving offence, which the prosecuting sergeant said was not previously before the court.
The court heard that Mr Byrne has 89 previous convictions, his most recent conviction being from 25 May at Carlow District Court for possession of drugs contrary to the . On 25 May at Bray District Court, Mr Byrne was disqualified from driving for 15 years; the disqualification will come into effect on 19 June.
Mr Byrne was conveyed to Carlow District Court from prison, where he is serving a sentence in relation to the Bray matter. He has 14 previous dangerous driving convictions, three previous criminal damage convictions and four misuse of drugs convictions.
His defence solicitor told the court that Mr Byrne was a father of four and at the time had been experiencing the breakdown of his relationship, which had led him to turn to drugs. The solicitor went on to say that his client was very sorry for the damage that his actions had caused, the drugs found on him were for his personal use and that he was doing well in prison.
Mr Byrne said that at the time of this incident, he was working part-time with his brother.
Judge Elizabeth Healy said that in sentencing Mr Byrne, she had considered his guilty plea and that he was expecting another child at the time of the incident but added that turning to drugs probably had not helped. She also considered that he was doing well in prison and had apologised. However, his previous convictions were a big concern.
In relation to the four dangerous driving charges, Mr Byrne was convicted and sentenced to two months in prison for each, to be served concurrently, and was disqualified from driving for ten years. For the criminal damage charge, he was sentenced to two months in prison, to be served consecutively to his previous sentence.
Mr Byrne of 13 Emmet Place, Carnew, Co Wicklow was also convicted and fined €400 for not having insurance at the time of the incident and was disqualified from driving for four years. The judge took the no licence charge into consideration and for the possession of cannabis, Mr Byrne was fined €100.
After Judge Healy had finished sentencing him, Mr Byrne was heard saying “not bad” in court and then thanked the judge as he was conveyed from the courtroom.
