Hit-and-run driver jailed

Motorist with 92 convictions – who was banned from the road 12 times – ploughed into cyclist

A HIT-AND-RUN driver had been banned from the road an astonishing 12 times when he seriously injured a cyclist and fled the scene, a court has heard.

Jonathan Wainyae, 33, who has 92 previous convictions, mostly for road traffic offences, but also for assault, theft and drug dealing, was banned from the road at the time he hit Jones Justino DaSilva as he was cycling home after work.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard he had also received 12 disqualifications from driving in the past.

Mr DaSilva, a Brazilian national, said that after the accident he thought he was going to die. He Guilty: Wainyae had been cycling home around midnight after finishing a shift in a restaurant in Howth when he was knocked off his bike by a car driven by Wainyae. He suffered a spinal fracture and fractures to his right leg and as a result he was unable to continue working.

Mr DaSilva told the court that the effects of the injuries put a strain on his marriage and he and his wife eventually split up. In an emotional statement to the court, Mr DaSilva said he came to Ireland with his wife to improve his English. He said the period afterwards was very difficult and it took him a long time to recover.

Speaking through a Portuguese translator, he said he had to return to Brazil after the accident and felt depressed and suicidal at times.

‘It changed my life very much. I had so many plans. My life was turned upside down. My marriage broke down,’ he said.

Detective Sergeant David Ennis told the court that the victim was well illuminated on the night.

Wainyae of St Attracta Road, Cabra, Dublin pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing serious bodily injury and to failing to stop at the scene of a collision at Strand Road, Baldoyle, Dublin, on July 9, 2016.

Judge Patricia Ryan sentenced him to six years imprisonment for the dangerous driving offence with the final year suspended on conditions. She also disqualified him from driving for 25 years.

Judge Ryan also sentenced him to two years imprisonment for the charge of failing to stop at the scene. She backdated both sentences to July 12, 2018, and said they would run concurrently.

The court heard he is currently serving a five-year prison term imposed in 2016 for robbery. His defence barrister, Pieter LeVert, told the court that he is engaging with an addiction treatment programme in custody. Mr LeVert told the court that his client went into custody in 2014 and came out with a heroin addiction.

Det Gda Ennis told the court that while Wainyae’s apology was well received by the victim, he felt it came very late.