Man jailed after bringing 13-year-old child on high-speed chase from gardaí

Isabel Hayes

A man who engaged in a high-speed garda chase with his 13-year-old child in the car, reaching speeds of 160km/h and colliding with two garda cars, has been jailed for two years and nine months.

The incident occurred around 1.30 am in the morning in March 2023 after gardaí noticed the Dublin man (44) driving his Jaguar car in a suspicious manner, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard on Friday.

His 13-year-old son was a passenger in the car.

The man cannot be named to protect the anonymity of his child.

He took off at speed and was pursued by several gardaí around swathes of south county Dublin, including Carrickmines, Stepaside, around Johnnie Fox's pub and on the M50.

He reached speeds of 100 km/h on rural roads, drove on the wrong side of the road and around the wrong side of roundabouts, broke red lights and reached 160km/h on the M50, Fiona McGowan BL, prosecuting, told the court.

On the M50, he collided with one garda vehicle, causing it to spin several times. The garda driver used his two feet to brake the car, which he managed to bring to a stop on the side of the road.

The garda was very shaken after the crash, the court heard.

The second collision occurred after gardaí in another patrol car noticed the Jaguar slowing and decided to overtake it. However, the man sped up the Jaguar, which then collided at speed with the patrol car.

This collision brought the pursuit to an end, the court heard.

The child was cared for by authorities while the man was questioned, and he was released that night. He was formally interviewed about a week later. No one was injured during the incident.

The man pleaded guilty to two counts of endangerment, two counts of dangerous driving and one count of driving without insurance on March 5th 2023.

A number of other counts, including driving without a driver's licence, were taken into consideration.

He has 24 previous convictions, including robbery, attempted robbery, theft, taking a vehicle and road traffic offences.

Cathal McGreal BL, defending, said his client was in a “bad state of mind” after a fight with his wife that evening.

His son left the house with him, and the man then panicked when he saw gardaí as he had no insurance or driver's licence. This set off “an appalling series of dangerous driving incidents” for which the man is now very remorseful, defence counsel submitted.

“He could have killed someone, but he didn't,” Mr McGreal said.

Judge Martin Nolan said the man's explanation for his actions that night was “insubstantial” and that any person stopped by the guards should “accept the punishment” if they have no licence or insurance.

He noted the maximum sentence for endangerment is seven years, and he set a headline sentence of six years.

Taking mitigating factors into account, including the man's guilty plea and co-operation with gardaí, he reduced this to two years and nine months.

He disqualified the man from driving for six years.