Man jailed for two years after Dublin car chase
A man who was being pursued by 20 Garda patrol cars and a Garda helicopter in a "high-speed car chase", because he was driving a stolen Mercedes for a promised eighth of heroin, has been jailed for two years.
Wayne Callaghan (aged 27) of Harelawn Park, Clondalkin, Dublin, pleaded guilty to driving the vehicle, two charges of dangerous driving and reckless endangerment on November 28, 2003, at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The charges represented a sample of 13 offences against him.
Mr Luan Ó Braonáin BL, defending, told Judge Desmond Hogan that Callaghan came from a family that was ravaged by drug addiction and that three of his brothers had died because of their drug habits. He said that his client was anxious to get treatment for his addiction.
Judge Hogan, who also disqualified Mr Callaghan from driving for five years, said he accepted that his criminality was related to his drug addiction.
Garda David Brennan told Mr Padraig Dywer BL, prosecuting, that he was patrolling an area around the Fonthill Road, Clondalkin, at 1.30 am, when he was alerted to a Mercedes that had been reported as stolen on November 26, 2003.
Gda Brennan said he activated the blue siren on his vehicle and pursued the Mercedes, which failed to stop at a red light on the Fonthill Road and continued towards Clondalkin village.
It then failed to indicate as it went on to the N4 roundabout at the Deadman’s Inn public house and subsequently drove around the roundabout the wrong way.
The Mercedes then cut across a grass verge on the dual carriageway and drove at speed on the wrong side of the road, overtaking other motorists. It then mounted part at the M50 flyover at the Ballymun exit, where the vehicle almost collided with a lamppost.
Gda Brennan told Mr Dwyer that a stinger was thrown across the road in an attempt to intercept the vehicle at the Ballymun flat complex.
The tyres of the vehicle deflated but the car continued across a field before it came to a stop beside the flats. The driver of the car alighted and ran into a garden at the back of one of the flats.
Gda Brennan said that the car had been driven from Clondalkin to Ballymun at speeds in excess of 100 mph. Twenty Garda patrol cars along with a Garda helicopter had been employed in the chase, which lasted about 25 minutes.
The helicopter kept the driver under surveillance, which led to his arrest shortly after.
Gda Brennan said that Callaghan had 35 previous convictions, the most recent being on April 28, when he received a six-year sentence for possession of a firearm.
Gda Brennan agreed with Mr Ó Braonáin that another person had asked Callaghan to move the car from Clondalkin had promised him an eighth of heroin to carry this out.
He accepted that Callaghan had not collided with any other motorists or any pedestrians during the chase and that no vehicles had been damaged, bar the tyres of the Mercedes.
